- Yesterday at the Tirana court: Ago Xhaferri, Shkëlqim Muça, Çajup Xhebra, Ramiz Mebelli, Musa Lulaj accused of the criminal offence of gathering at an illegal rally - Sentences: Ago Xhaferri, 45 days; Shkëlqim Muça, 100 lekë fine; Çajup Xhebra, 100 lekë fine; Ramiz Mebelli, 1,000 lekë fine; Musa Lulja. - The charges: «De jure», gathering at an illegal rally; «de facto», they had «reserved» the «emporium» of Sali Berisha in Tirana. - Tirana court, unique in the world when it comes to witnesses appearing armed in the courtroom. - The police make arrests, the police file complaints with the Prosecutor’s Office, the police appear as witnesses in the courtroom. - Discrepancies between witnesses’ statements during the investigation and in court, as well as from one courtroom to another. At 10:00. Before the panel of judges consisting of judge Gli- [...] grim Gjata, and in the presence of prosecutor Agim Dishnica, Shkëlqim Muça appeared, having been prosecuted while at liberty. The Prosecutor’s Office report charges him with a criminal offence, participating in an illegal gathering, under Article 6 of Decree 7408 of July 1990. The report states that on the afternoon of 30 July, Shkëlqim Muça drove past the crowds in a car on the Presidential Palace road, shouting and holding portraits of Fatos Nanos. Shkëlqim Muça explained that he is an employee of the Tirana Socialist Party Committee. That day I drove employees of this committee to the rally and then left for the New Tirana fuel station. After finishing work after 18:30 and learning that the rally had ended, I took the road towards the Presidency to go to Selij. Opposite the Presidency, several policemen stopped me, put me in a «Ford», and, near the State Bank, after clarifying matters, let me go. I set off to get my car near the Presidency, where I met a policeman who told me he would escort me by car to the precinct. From there, employees of the Criminal Police of Precinct No. 3 took me to the police station in Dymishtër. They said they had heard from a distance that a slogan was being shouted, but they had not understood what was being said. He was holding portraits of Fatos Nanos. Shkëlqim Muça, responding... (Continued on page 4)

THE 1 MILLION 600 THOUSAND DOLLAR SCANDAL RE-EMERGES - According to him, the sum of 400 thousand dollars was paid for Holi into a current account in Zurich (Switzerland), intended to finance the Christian Democratic Party’s electoral campaign in violation of Albanian law on party financing The ANSA news agency reported on 10 August 1993 that Christian Democrat MP A. Alessi had submitted an urgent question to Italy’s foreign minister, Beniamino Andreatta. The question states that Tirana, instead of being grateful to Italy for the aid it has given and for accepting 25 thousand Albanian emigrants, has devised «a deception» against the Italian government, a deception that also served to appropriate from Albania’s Democratic Party a «tangente» (kickback) of 400 thousand dollars. The operation, Alessi explained yesterday at a press conference, began in 1991, when Albanian Prime Minister Bufi, during a visit to Rome, assigned Xhuliano Amato the task of negotiating, without payment, the debt that the Albanian Bank owed to foreign banks. After the Democratic Party’s victory, President Berisha confirmed Amato’s assignment, and when the latter was appointed President of the Council of Ministers, the task passed to Beniamino Andreatta. But in January 1993, Alessi continued, the Italian embassy in Tirana uncovered the deception: the Albanians had secretly reached an agreement with Nikolas Arsidi, a French merchant, to whom they had paid a fee of 1 million 200 thousand dollars as negotiator of the Albanian debt. The deception, Alessi concluded, came to light at the end of 1992 when Arsidi was arrested in France over problems he had with the financial police. Arsidi stated that he had discovered, in agreement with the Albanians (known to Central Bank governor Hoti, Finance Minister Ruli, former Prime Minister Ahmeti, and Chairman Berisha), his share of the 1 million 600 thousand dollars: 1 million 200 thousand dollars. The sum of 400 thousand dollars, which makes up the difference, (Switzerland), intended to finance the party financing.

in the Albanian Parliament, the voice of a democratic deputy was heard, boasting that he was honored to be a fascist. Indeed, when the great Kalakula said in Parliament that he was honored to be a fascist, all the little kalakuj, along with their kalakuj, applauded with great fanfare. The entire Parliament of kalakuj and the visiting kalakuj guests in the boxes applauded, their eyes filled with tears of emotion, as if immediately after the words of the great Kalakula, with his state and party rank, the gates of the assembly’s temple would open and majestic fascism, dressed in a black shirt and gray greatcoat and wearing polished boots, would pour forth before the kalakuj. Our unpoliticized and nonpartisan RTV also gave restrained applause! Of course, if only the great Kalakula rejoices in fascism, it is not such a big deal, since one lone individual is just a tiny speck. But what is cause for concern is that the euphoria over fascism swept through the entire parliament of kalakuj. And it goes without saying that euphoria would follow, since all the collaborators of Nazi-fascism are being honored by our esteemed one, who is handing out medals. He is paying honors at exhumations and burials, celebrating birthdays and deaths. Thus, the voice of this crowd of kalakuj is unlawful, while the voice of the demonstrators who obtain permits bearing signatures and seals is lawful. To boast that you are a fascist means destabilizing, provoking people to rise up and openly saying: «You too, Communists and honest people, come out as you did once before, because I, fascism, have reappeared; I have come back onto the scene.»

— Letter from a man detained after the Tirana rally — I am one of those detained by the police after the 30 July demonstration in Tirana, chairman of the governing council of the Socialist Party in the municipality of Pezë. The electorate of Pezë voted for the Socialist Party and the alternative of democratic socialism both on 22 March and on 26 July. The people of Pezë came to the 30 July rally in Tirana to defend true democracy and the national interests. I took part too. After this rally, those in power became frightened and angered. My name, like those of dozens of others, was put on their blacklists of people to be arrested. And here are the fruits of those lists. (Continued on page 2)

Mr. Roci, after exhuming all the old fathers, began rummaging through the cellars too. And we saw him in a television report digging through the archives of the Central Committee of the PPSH, together with Mr. Malltezi, Director of the Central State Archives. These two indisputable old men, Roci and Malltezi, are digging. But they should have left their slander against the Unification Party in their frescoes; they should understand that there is no need for facts in order to cool off. The archive dug up by Mr. Malltezi, No. 394, dated 20.5.1922, which the government has as part of the State Archives, is the PPSH Central Committee file on the party... (text partly illegible) On 26 July 1992, the Socialist Party was removed from its building under threat from the police. So, gentlemen in power, you can now tamper with anything in that cellar that contains evidence. You can do whatever you want: dig, take documents out and put them back in, burn them, curse. But one thing is clear: Roci’s excavations coincided with Malltezi’s arrest, as he was accused of taking archival documents abroad. Whether it is 2,500 pages or just a single page, they will cover this up to conceal their blunders and... [unclear]. And a public publication. On this occasion, we would remind Mr. Malltezi that no matter how deeply one digs, a bramble cannot be covered with goat hair. The Observer

We begin this article by saying from the outset that Gjirokastër, too, is being unsettled, is losing its bearings amid insecurity, its heart is pounding with terror, with... On Sunday, in the working-class neighborhood, some hooligans started a fight for no reason at all, which resulted in one person being wounded and many others being beaten and injured. Among those mentioned are women and mothers. It is a fact that Sunday has passed, but the terror caused by these vandals continues on weekdays. Last night the same types, in their cars without license plates, told a shopkeeper to close his premises within five minutes, or else, as they told him, they would «blow it up». The shopkeeper left, abandoning his goods to uncertainty. A column of these irredentist vandals surged through this neighborhood, making it clear to the other residents, who had been warned, that they would wreak havoc. It is an indisputable fact that here and there, in many neighborhoods in Gjirokastër, hooligans swagger in front of law-enforcement buildings, because no one can stop them from doing what they do. Sunday proved this fact most clearly, in front of dozens and dozens of citizens. Many police officers were indifferent to the hooligans, and this gave them even more courage to do whatever they wanted. The police remain silent. Not one of them has been stopped. People were left... (Continued on page 3)

- Democristian MP ALBERTO ALESI: Speculation instead of gratitude - Albania serves to enrich the Democratic Party with a kickback of 400,000 dollars - The Italian Embassy exposes the fraud concerning the Arsidi affair - The dollars stolen from Albania through Arsidi were used to finance the DP’s election campaign - What will Italy’s future position toward Albania be? (ANSA) - Rome, 10 August Although since 1991 Italy has «alleviated» the hunger of the Albanians (some 700 billion lire sent from Rome to Tirana as food aid, financial agreements and cooperation), Albania, instead of thanking the Italian Government, speculated on humanitarian aid (from Italy to Albania—our note) and even served dollars. This was denounced by Alberto Alesi (of the Christian Democratic Party), rapporteur of the Commission of Inquiry on Cooperation, which should have been established back in September, who submitted an urgent question to Foreign Minister Beniamino Andreatta. The operation, Alesi explained today Minister Bufi, during a visit to Rome, confirmed to Giuliano Amato the «appointment of the negotiator, without payment, for the handling of the foreign debt». After the Democratic Party’s victory, President Berisha reconfirmed this assignment to Amato and, when he was appointed prime minister, the assignment passed to Beniamino Andreatta. Later, Alesi continued, the Italian Embassy in Tirana uncovered the fraud: the Albanians handled the matter secretly, appointing Nicolas Arsidi, a French trader, and paying him a fee of 1,200,000 dollars as negotiator of the Albanian debt. A second ANSA dispatch that same day stated: Alesi stressed that, despite the aid Italy had given Albania over the previous two years (more than 400 million lire in food aid, the acceptance of 25,000 refugees, two financial agreements of 30 billion lire each, 39 billion lire for industrial projects and 200 billion for cooperation agreements), Tirana had given no indication of the existence of this secret agreement. In 1992, with Arsidi’s arrest in France, the matter became clear from his testimony: the amount he was to receive, 1,600,000 dollars, was reduced and divided with the Albanians (the governor of the Central Bank, Hoti, Finance Minister Ruli, and Prime Minister Ahmeti). They left Arsidi 1,200,000 dollars, while 400,000 dollars were deposited in a current account at the Office in Hoti’s name, to be used for the DP’s election campaign, in violation of Albanian law. For these reasons, in his question Alesi asks Minister Andreatta whether the policy of aid to Albania will «still be justified» and whether we will «still tolerate this continual roundabout that today’s Albanian government officials conduct with Italian dignitaries, and in particular with our foreign minister, granting Andreatta official status without payment and Nicolas Arsidi secret status in exchange for payment of 1,200,000 dollars.»

(News broadcast by RAI 2 Tg 2, 10 August 1993) Something exposed by the previous Albanian governments: they are said to have devised a fraud at the expense of Albanians. This fraud is said to have served to enrich the Albanian Democratic Party with 400,000 dollars, the proceeds of a kickback denounced in a question addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Albanian ambassador, Alberto Alesi, a Christian Democrat MP, Kay parliamentary, was the rapporteur of the Commission, which should have been set up back in September. He stated that what had happened was much more serious, considering that Italy had sent aid worth around 700 billion lire to Tirana over three years.

NIL ADMIRARI By DRITËRO AGOLLI “The mainspring of the ruling party’s clock, strained by the crowd, weakened all the way to the end. And the mainspring snapped one day when, in the Albanian Parliament, it was heard— Of course, if only the great Kalakula is delighted by fascism, it is not such a big deal, because ...