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

The trial against former Prime Minister Ilir Meta at the Supreme Court is closed after nearly a year, declaring him not guilty of the charge brought by the prosecution for active corruption. With four unanimous votes in favor of acquittal and one parallel vote that nevertheless also grants acquittal, the sensational Meta-Prifti wiretapping video case has been definitively closed from a legal standpoint.

Poli Hoxha Yesterday, the Supreme Court bench definitively rejected the investigation and the prosecution's charges against Ilir Meta, for whom 2 years in prison and a 1 million lek fine had been requested. As expected, all 5 members voted in favor of his acquittal. The session for the final ruling on Ilir Meta had been postponed for 10 days, but yesterday too the judges of the Penal Chamber apparently did not go through the decision-making without debate, since it was made a full 2 and a half hours late. The ruling was read at around 3:10 p.m. by the rapporteur of the case, Ardian Dvorani. It contains three short paragraphs: the defendant is declared not guilty but without the reasoning being made public, all evidence is returned to the prosecution, and the state pays all court costs, which amount to 30 million old lek. Dvorani’s vote Throughout the process... continues on page 2

Berisha: The KLD vice-chairman should be dismissed Pages 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 was scared It became clear that re:fressh had an extraordinary impact on Sunday, when the hall of the Palace of Congresses was filled with young people from fresh youth, not only from Tirana but also from the districts. Even so, the hall did not have the brilliance of the PS, EU or USA flags. There was only one red-and-black flag that covered the entire upper hall of the Palace of Congresses, and that was it. In fact, apparently also because of a lack of funds, the re:fressh banners held in people’s hands were handed out sparingly, drop by drop. Nevertheless, the cheers and the excitement of the 20th anniversary of the founding of the youth organization seemed very great to me. And after this activity, PD strangely brought two women to the podium: Albana Mustafaraj, party spokesperson, and Mesila Doda, MP. Both were speaking about the Socialist Youth event. Seeing their astonished 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 situation, while it was taking the developments inside PS very seriously. I understand that you too had been somewhat anxiously awaiting the event. What would happen. Just like everyone else, even within PS, mostly Rama’s opponents, some had an idea that the event might fail. Yet Veliaj managed to make it work. Not a very luxurious event, but there was a lot of enthusiasm. Of course, 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 this hope with the same enthusiasm you saw on Sunday. continues on page 5

ALARMING SITUATION Staff abandon the service, hospital directors: We have the records ready 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 now they are only waiting for their accounts 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/Periphery BY ALBA MALLTEZI Court, a valuable gift to power Page 3

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