To the President of the Republic, Mr. Sali Berisha To the Albanian Helsinki Committee We, the women of the Socialist Women’s Forum of the district of Elbasan, join our voice of protest to that of Fatbardha Dega when she addresses you, Mr. President, regarding the unprecedented criminal act committed against her. Although this is an unparalleled act, comparable only to those of Nazi and Fascist war criminals, this big-hearted woman nevertheless writes: “I do not accuse the Democrats, but the pseudo-Democrats as the physical and moral perpetrators of this criminal act, unprecedented in a democratic state.” Where is justice? Where is the “human dimension” that you have proclaimed with such fanfare in every speech you give?! And what was the Albanian Helsinki Committee created for?! This is part of a whole ongoing campaign of unscrupulous and deliberate struggle, being organized today with anti-democratic and inhumane indignation, which we women too experience through psychological terror and physical violence, as in the case of Fatbardha Dega. Your silence, the silence of the judiciary and of the bodies created specifically to protect human rights, is striking us. We express our indignation at this silence, which speaks volumes and must not continue any longer! We speak to you in the name of our women, mothers and sisters, in the name of our daughters and sons, in the name of democracy, which we neither build nor want in this way, under any circumstances. From the Socialist Women’s Forum of the district of Elbasan

The S[?] Party Auditorium . The Strengthening of the S[?] Socialist Party Is a Blow to the Democ[?]. The main conclusion of this achie[?] meeting of the [?] Steering Committee of the [?] Socialist Party for the district of [?] decit was that during the year [?] all its members and sympathizers had carri[?] out a great deal of work, [?] but the results, with a victo[?], crowned the elections of the [?] kut. The majority was won [?] they made the district’s [?] and the majority of the communes [?]. It successfully undertook the reorganization [?] at the grassroots, on the basis of [?], creating 95 organizations [?] newly created) and [?] zonal organizations. The Socialist Party [?] after three tests [?] is effectively growing, [?] of which it consists [?]. The highest commendations [?] were made at the meeting for comrades Petrit Kole, Bahri Halili, Nesti Përit, Petrit Buna, Aurel Duka as chairman of FRESSH in the district of Pogradec, as well as [?] the work as a whole of the party organ[?] of Al[?]ç, Homesh, Gurasi[?]sit, Udënisht, Bl[?]një, Dardhas, Go[?]. Although the balance sheet is [?] positive, it must be said [?] no voice was heard [?] of the party. On the contrary, [?] responsibilities and duties [?] assistance, the visits [?] to further strengthen [?] the role of the Socialist Party, and resolve the district’s many political and social problems. Congratulating them for the good work done during [?] and for putting their proposals into practice [?], the deputy chairman of the Socialist Party of Albania, Comrade Servet Pëllumbi, who took part in this meeting, valued the discussions of the comrades and [?] women comrades, their concern to further strengthen the Party and increase its role in leading [?] at district level. The more the party grows and strengthens as an opposition political force [?], the greater its role becomes in democratic processes and in carrying out the reforms necessary to achieve [?] the transition to a market economy with a social dimension. The Democratic Party’s propaganda accused the Socialist Party, without any evidence, of being a destructive force and branded it with all sorts of epithets. But let me point out: is the Socialist Party really such a destructive force, or is it interested in bringing the crisis to an end—not through us, but through concrete economic measures? The crisis cannot be overcome at all by (Continued on page 4)

The unscrupulous polemic by the President, his spokesperson and the press organs servile to the government against Professor Rexhep Qosja has aroused indignation among many people from different social groups and with different convictions. Many articles have arrived at our newspaper’s editorial office expressing the views of various people. They all express indignation at the attack on Rexhep Qosja and regard it as an attack by ignorance against knowledge, mediocrity against the intelligentsia, and arrogance against debate. Our editorial office has decided to publish all these articles, convinced that in this way free thought is defended against state arbitrariness. In the next issue you will read: “Open Letter” addressed to Professor REXHEP QOSJA By MOIKOM ZEÇO

A young man was talking with an elderly man. —Before, when you saw someone with a tape recorder in his hand, he looked like the boss of bosses. Now the place is full of... —Yes, the old man tells him, you’re absolutely right. Yesterday, too, when I saw a man with a plate of pilaf in front of him, he looked like the boss of bosses. Life has become so thin now that... DURIM MADHI

What Is Happening in Tirana’s Market I do not think I would be wrong to say that the institution with the most complete staffing is the Ministry of Public Order. The roads you pass along are full of police officers, except that most of them are onlookers and traders of this institution. I say that height and weight are not enough to be a member of the police; nor is it enough to have been persecuted by the communist dictatorship, or to hold right- or left-wing political beliefs. Above all, to be a police officer requires character, conscientiousness and the will to perform this duty, more than anything else. I am greatly struck by the police service in the open-air market. They are the traders’ last visitors, when the market is emptying out. To me this is like the saying, “Kola is at work.” I do not want to repeat here another fact: even when one of them does show up, they are close collaborators of thieves and gamblers. Every trader is [part of] a group of thieves, but is powerless to confront them. Every day, goods worth hundreds of thousands of lekë are stolen in the market. Does a strike by traders have to take place for this problem to be normalized? On 14.1.1993, a thief robbed an old man; a police officer caught the thief, took the bag from him and gave it to the old man. To everyone’s amazement, the police officer took 150 new lekë from the thief, and that was the end of the show. I am sure you will ask for the names and surnames of the police officers, and if I knew them I would tell you, but I do not know them. If you do not believe these lines I have written, check what is happening in Tirana’s open-air market and you will be convinced that corruption has taken root in the MRP. I would not wish it to happen, but today or tomorrow there will also be victims in Tirana’s open-air market. PASHK KALAJ Nevertheless, yesterday’s salespeople, or today’s shop owners, seem to be overstepping their rights. Some of them are trying to go too far—or, more precisely, to abuse the favor the state granted them. And how? New faces can now be seen in their shops. Some owners have rented out their shops. Others who have bought or privatized them, as they have, this cannot be done by just one person, but simultaneously by large and small enterprises. And most of the citizens, new. just one person, but at the same time large and small enterprises. And most of the citizens,

Whether fairly or unfairly (since many people believe that state property should first have been assessed and then distributed according to some clearly defined criteria), the first people among us to become owners during the transition were the shopkeepers. Both the person who had worked for 20 years and the one who, thanks to his good fortune, had only dipped his toes into trade for two or three months nevertheless bought shops and thus became an owner. The fact is that, to a greater or lesser extent, shopkeepers had money put aside. Their profession yielded something, even if only a little. In the monist regime they lived better, much better indeed (note that they were the first to buy cars, expensive household electrical appliances, etc., etc.). For now, trade is not the preserve of those who own shops. Nevertheless, yesterday’s salespeople, or today’s shop owners, who live on a token salary or welfare assistance, cannot help but be shaken, and even feel humiliated, when some people continue to get rich precisely from what used to be state property and was accumulated drop by drop through everyone’s sweat. What exactly are we talking about? It is said that shops bought for more than 20 m. lekë in new currency will now be sold to their owners for 15–20 million old lekë. Nothing more and nothing less than a hundred times more! So while a worker or employee can hardly have 10,000 old lekë in his pocket, someone who was already living better than they were, simply by sitting around, adds another 15 or 20 million lekë to the millions he has. In the face of such a fact, a person who believes in social justice is dealt a heavy blow. It seems the state is incapable of stopping the headlong rush of the money riders. Although there is a rule that shops may not be sold and their purpose may not be changed for at least two years, few people observe it; money and profit have their own “laws” and do not care about the laws of the state. Indeed, it is possible that some state officials, faced with such facts, remain silent because that is what the person lining their pockets dictates. Nevertheless, people want to believe that when the state issues laws, it also demands that they be obeyed. SEJIDIN CEKANI

RTVSH, headed by Bucpapa, is determined to violate the laws of the state - Read on pages 1–2 the material about the questioning session of the Director General of RTV in the People’s Assembly - TVSH censors the Presidency of the Republic. Why? I have considered the president’s initiative to sit at a round table with the political forces to be the most positive element of all his political activity. I would call any attempt to attack this initiative, even slightly, undemocratic. I would include TVSH’s act of censorship in this category. If this censorship was carried out with the president’s knowledge, it shows that, regarding the first attempt, the president has assumed the position of an interested mediator, so powerful that he himself has determined what is required. Consequently, in this case, unfortunately, his action is a conclusion drawn from his actions, which are precisely his own censorship. If the censorship was carried out without his knowledge, then this shows that he has taken no measures, or has had no way, to hold those responsible accountable. For this reason, I am convinced that the censorship of the president ... This is a case of the censorship of an important political figure. Such a thing should not happen in a democratic country. This reasoning, examined from every angle, clearly points to RTV’s non-objective and asymmetrical actions, which give the state a Democratic Party coloring. Let us hope that the president is not part of this group. In that case, the governing council should have been dismissed immediately. The Director General of RTV himself should also have demanded this, if at least he had acted objectively and honestly regarding the president’s activities. KASTRIOT ISLAMI RTSH — A PARTY INSTITUTION The RTSH statute is a law approved by Parliament, and compliance with it is mandatory for this institution’s organizational structures. But the facts show that RTSH has openly and flagrantly been turned into a party institution, serving without any hesitation the policies of the party in power. Its reporting is one-sided, manipulated, and misleading, and this tendency ... LUAN HAJDARAGA Have you any professional ethics left? TVSH, directed by Bucpapa, has not only failed to become depoliticized but has, on the contrary, become excessively politicized. You have transformed it into a mouthpiece that acts blindly and, why not, even slavishly, according to the directives of the state party that governs Albania. I ask you again, and once more I appeal to TVSH journalists: is there still any professional ethics left, or has it been replaced by political blindness? Mr. Director, you are flagrantly violating Parliament’s laws on the depoliticization of this national institution, which is essential to the normal progress of Albanian democracy. You should understand, Mr. Director, that by acting this way, you are trampling on ... your tenure will be very short. Take care of yourself. You must answer for violations of the law One-sided news reports are an expression of RTV’s one-sided positions. A national TV station is obliged to comply with the statute of parliamentarism, also established by law. Through its one-sidedness, RTSH has seriously violated the legislation in force. That is why criminal charges have also been sought against you ... You boast about your party bias I have always thought that your statement, Mr. Bucpapa, was made in a moment of irritation. Because I believe that a normal person could not label all the articles published in the socialist press as slander and fabrications. I will quote just a few article headlines that speak for themselves, proving that we are dealing with the truth, not slander and fabrications: - Why is RTV silent about the results of the July 26 elections? - TV censors Parliament. - Why are the heads of RTV so afraid of the People? - How will RTV pay the martyrs? - TV does not go to Bulqizë. - A supplement to the TV column: Who is Hidër Hoxha? - Who judges Shkodër’s village: the court, the newspaper, or RTV? I know why, Mr. Bucpapa. You have become the subject of such articles in the socialist press. You are concerned with being an obedient servant of those in power. And in fact, you are. It is no coincidence that Mr. Bucpapa, you come from the hometown of the number one figure in the DP, namely Tropojë. charges have also been sought against you ... It seems that this cannot be achieved today, because directors are controlled by those who have placed them in these positions. But you will certainly answer before the courts for the serious violations of the law.

We’ve Had Enough Politics, Gentlemen in Government Several months ago, the Federation of Albania’s Chemical and Metallurgical Trade Unions, anticipating that the number of employees placed on welfare assistance would be twice the figure given by the Meksi Government, called for work to resume in our plants and industrial complexes and for new employment projects to be opened. Today, assistance has become almost universal in these two branches of industry. At the same time, its term is nearing its end, and the Ministry [text unclear] families will have nothing left to eat. In this context, and even beyond its normal duties, but driven by great concern for the resumption of work, representatives of the Confederation recently held meetings abroad with foreign companies ready to help at the Metallurgical Complex in Elbasan. But it is hardly surprising that deep political divisions prevent Minister Xhaja and the “reformist” Albanian Government from putting politics first. Gentlemen in government—we’ve had enough politics; your short-sightedness and your attitude are unforgivable and intolerable. Federation of Albania’s Chemical and Metallurgical Trade Unions