Dvorani’s parallel vote, reasoning made public The judges, two hours of debate over the Meta-Prifti video. PS: This court must be dissolved The chairman of the LSI: “The background of the video and my resignation, before January 21 and the plan to eliminate me.” Reactions after the Supreme Court decision in Tirana and Brussels

Nearly a year later, the trial against former prime minister Ilir Meta in the Supreme Court is closed, declaring him innocent of the charge brought by the prosecution for active corruption. With four unanimous votes in favor of innocence and a fifth parallel one that nevertheless grants innocence, the sensational story of the Meta-Prifti video wiretap has been legally closed once and for all.

POLI HOXHA Yesterday, the bench of the Supreme Court definitively overturned the investigation and the prosecution’s charges against Ilir Meta, for whom it had sought 2 years in prison and a 1 million lek fine. As expected, all 5 members voted in favor of his innocence. The hearing for the final decision on Ilir Meta had been postponed for 10 days, but even the two judges of the Penal College seem not to have gone through the decision-making without debate, since it was delivered a full 2 and a half hours late. The decision was read around 3:10 p.m. by the case rapporteur, Ardian Dvorani. It contained three short paragraphs: the accused was declared innocent, but without the reasoning being made public; all evidence was returned to the prosecution; and the state was ordered to pay all court costs, amounting to 30 million old lek. Dvorani’s vote Throughout the entire process... continues on page 2

Berisha: The vice president of the KLD should be dismissed Page 4-5 Spahiu: Unconstitutional request Lawyer Hazizi: Only the president can remove him BY JAKIN MARENA

A coffee with Berisha BY ANILA BASHA Re:fressh, why the doctor got scared It was understood that re:fressh had an extraordinary impact on Sunday, when the hall of the Palace of Congresses was filled with young freshists, not only from Tirana, but also from the regions. Still, the hall did not have the brilliance of the PS, EU or US flags. There was only one red-and-black flag that covered the entire upper platform of the Palace of Congresses, and that was it. In fact, perhaps because of a lack of funds, even the banners at re:fressh that were held in people’s hands were handed out sparingly, as if drop by drop. Nevertheless, the cheers and the excitement of the 20th anniversary of the youth organization seemed very great to me. And after this event, the PD surprisingly brought two ladies to the podium: Albana Mustafaraj, party spokesperson, and Mesila Doda, MP. Both were speaking about the Socialist Youth event. Seeing their astonishing reaction, I headed toward Berisha’s office. I – Hello, Mr. Prime Minister... He – Come in, Anila... I – Doctor, yesterday PD seemed to me to be in a desperate state, while it was seriously dealing with developments within PS. I understand that you also somewhat expected the activity to go badly. What is going to happen? Just like everyone else, even within PS, as far as they are opponents of Rama, some had the idea that the event might fail. Yet Veliaj managed to pull it off properly. The event was not very luxurious, but there was a lot of enthusiasm. Surely the idea of how so many young people gathered at re:fressh scared you. Because to gather them... They are young people who have only a little hope that tomorrow will be a better day, and they express that hope with enthusiasm, as was seen on Sunday as well. continues on page 5

ESMERALDA KETA In total there are around 12 thousand white coats across the country, who, by last night, had still not received their December salary. Hospital directors say that the records and payroll lists have all been submitted, but they are still waiting for their account to be opened by the treasury... continues on page 11 In photo: Doctors in the cardiology ward at QSUT smoking cigarettes

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BLOG/Periferi By Alba Malltezi The Court, a precious gift to power Page 3

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Staff abandon the service, hospital directors: We have the records ready

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