8 METE officials arrested: Bribes of up to 1 million The deputy director of Calibration and 7 inspectors were handcuffed in their offices, one is wanted The arrested are senior officials of the LSI and relatives of politicians. They had denounced the corruption themselves a year earlier with a memo to the director. They were not carrying out calibrations, from bread to fuel TIRANA BESMIRA MUÇAJ The eight officials arrested yesterday by the state police at the Calibration Directorate, which depends on the Ministry of Economy, are closely linked to the Socialist Movement for Integration. Two of them, Roland Çelmeta (a member of the highest governing body of the LSI, the General Steering Committee) and Moisi Musabelliu, are senior officials of this party. But other facts are also emerging about yesterday’s arrestees. Thus, Armand Xhika is the first cousin of Suzana Guxholli, who today serves as adviser to Prime Minister Sali Berisha; Hetem Basha is the first cousin of Energy Minister Nasip Naço; Moisi Musabelliu is a cousin of the LSI chairman, Ilir Meta, while Agron Damzi is from Dibër, the area where Ilir Meta’s wife, Monika Kryemadhi, ran as a candidate. Roland Çelmeta, deputy director general of this directorate, had been an LSI parliamentary candidate in the Tirana district, although he did not manage to win in these elections. However, the director Gledion Rehovica, who had been the whistleblower of this scandal a year ago, had been an LSI parliamentary candidate in the Berat district, while from that area an LSI deputy emerged, the current minister in the Ministry of Economy, Nasip Naço. Energy Minister Nasip Naço had left for Turkey yesterday while his advisers were informing him by phone about the major wave of arrests taking place in the Calibration Directorate. The minister, of course, did not cancel his visit to return to the office. But the ministry immediately after these arrests issued a general statement to the press. "METE has closely followed today’s event, in which the police arrested several officials of the General Directorate of Metrology and Calibration on charges of corruption, an institution in... continues on page 3 In the photo: Roland Çelmeta, the deputy director arrested yesterday (right) Ilir Meta, head of the LSI

Editorial BY AFRIM KRASNIQI An Albanian story with a King Leka Zogu was only two days old when his father, King Zog, was forced to leave Albania. If Albania had not been occupied by fascist Italy and later by the Nazi regime, there were every chance that today he would be King of Albania. But his fate was tragic, almost like the fate of the Albanian state. At the age of 5, he and his family were declared “enemy” and officially forbidden to return to Albania. At the age of 7 he was forced to leave Europe and at the age of 22, on 9 April 1961, after the death of his father the King, his only son took the oath in exile as King of the Albanians. After 54 years of ideological condemnation and understandable longing for his country, in 1993 Leka Zogu returned to Tirana. But only for 22 hours, because the new democratic regime declared him persona non grata and expelled him again from the country. On the day when Albania was in deep crisis, in March 1997, the Democratic Party and the Socialist Party invited him to return, this time for a referendum on the form of the regime. He came to “burnt earth” and once again became its victim, even though he officially won 46% of the votes in favor of the monarchy. A few days later he was expelled from Albania for the third time, now on charges of a coup d’état and armed uprising. The same people who expelled him invited him in 2002 to return to his homeland, an invitation that Leka Zogu and his family accepted at a great price: the impossibility of being a political factor competing with those who had expelled them in 1944, 1993 or 1997. The return was accompanied by... continues on page 13

Page 5 Malaj: Here’s why I voted for Fullani Shalsi: My vote, a system error

Page 13 Pharmacy exam, private candidates seek favors against the state-run ones

BLOG/Periferi BY ALBA MALLTEZI How easy it is to arrest doctors Page 3

Page 4 PS wins Fier district in court Rama: The agreement is falling apart

Page 11 Albanian Airlines blocked 500 thousand euros in tickets will be refunded

After 14 years BY POLI HOXHA Page 9

WASTE In Naples, 150 household appliances are seized, ready for Albania Italian media: Albania like Somalia, referendum against the law ESMERALDA KETA “Albania will take to the streets to say no by referendum to the law approved by the Berisha government, which allows the import of toxic waste from abroad,” writes Andrea Intonti in an analysis of the situation after the approval of the law on waste imports in our country, published on the Italian portal “Info Oggi”. Analyzing the reasons that led Prime Minister Berisha to support such a law, Albania fails to secure sufficient quantities of e... On page 12

VIDEO TAPES After the revelation on Shqiptarja.com, the legal proceedings come to light Balliu’s “enemies”, fines from the tax office over the Rehova mine GENC KONDI The Turkish investors of the company “Dedeman Mining” have been declared “persona non grata” by the Albanian government since the moment publisher Fahri Balliu revealed that their place in the exploitation of chrome in the Rehova mine, in the district of Korçë, could be taken by another company, also from Turkey, which could secure him large revenues through illegal means. At present, the judicial opposition they have mounted is costing them a lot of time and money... On page 10