In 2009, the MEP persuaded the Albanian prime minister to buy 17 helicopters from France. The deal triggered a reaction from the U.S. Embassy: Disappointment over the decision Two months before the 2009 elections, Berisha and Sarkozy cleared the way for the very expensive deal The news The right-wing MEP, Joseph Daul, known for his unstinting support for Berisha’s government, is believed to have been the “godfather” of the 78.6 million euro deal that Albania signed in 2009 with “Eurocopter” for the purchase of helicopters for the Albanian army. TIRANA The president of the European People’s Party and the right-wing MEP from Strasbourg, Joseph Daul, is, by all appearances, the “godfather” of the multimillion-euro contract that Albania signed in Tirana on 17 December 2009 for the purchase of helicopters from the company “Eurocopter”. Moreover, using his authority as head of the right-wing grouping and his close ties to French president Sarkozy, MEP Daul lobbied not only for the signing of this very expensive contract for Albania’s budget, but also by mediating with a well-known Canadian company that produces aeronautical equipment and spare parts for such equipment, to obtain parts whose prices do not justify what Albania must pay for these rapid-response vehicles. On 24 April 2009, two months before the parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Berisha visited France and later said that he had “received Nicolas Sarkozy’s support for integration into the EU and NATO.” But that day, the French magazine “L’Express” wrote that the purpose of the Berisha-Sarkozy meeting was the hefty contract from the Albanian state budget to buy helicopters from the company “Eurocopter”, where France has... continues on page 2

EXCLUSIVE/Caught by the security cameras Page 9 In the photo: The person captured by the security cameras placing the explosive in Dorian Muçaj’s house HERE ARE THE PHOTOS OF THE CHIEF OF POLICE’S ASSAILANT BY Besmira Muçaj In the photo: The person captured by the security cameras placing the explosive in Dorian Muçaj’s house

Editorial BY Arben Rrozhani Bashar and Berisha Syrian President Bashar Assad calmly says that: “only a madman kills his own people.” He said this a few days ago during an interview on American television ABC. Pretending to be unaware of the 4,000 Syrians killed since March 2011, according to UN reports. “I have done my best to protect the people,” President Bashar tells journalist Barbara Walters: “No government in the world kills its own people unless it is led by a madman.” Assad, 46, came to power in 2000, and says he has no control over the men in uniform who kill the opponents of his government every day, including the Alawite sect, which makes up only 10 percent of the population of a 22-million-strong Sunni majority. Assad says the accused killers, the army, are not his forces, but government forces: “They are not my forces, they are military forces that depend on the government. I am the president and I have no power over the country.” Let us return to Tirana. On 21 January 2011, four citizens were killed in Tirana, certainly 1,000 times fewer than in Syria. But they were killed. Sali Berisha himself, the country’s prime minister, has acknowledged that more could have been killed, as also appears from his words to the Guard leaders on 24 January 2011: “We have nothing to hide, zero. In a coup d’état not a single person may be killed, 3, 30 or 300 may be killed. The coup d’état could not be allowed to pass. That is absolute. The strength of the institutions of a democratic state is… continues on page 2

DOCUMENTS All the missing evidence in the trial is revealed, the defense witnesses emerge Poli Hoxha Dritan Dajti and his defense appear to have prepared seriously to prove in the trial against him that the serious incident of 7 July 2009 was not simply his “Hollywood-style spectacle” but a clash between rival groups within the police. They offer many pieces of evidence which are... continues on pages 6-7

Page 8 INSTAT figures: infrastructure works down by 10% Page 11 Private high schools, problems filling in registers and with teachers

Pages 12-13 TOB pensioners, Berisha violates the Council of Ministers decision on removal from office Page 10 European Commission: Albanian schools in a deplorable state

Page 5 The pensioners’ “rooster” fails, Rama and Bode clash over the fiscal amnesty Page 4 PS striking MPs accuse Xhafaj: You forgot us

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