The Albanian Parliament has passed the law “On the Rights and Freedoms of Man,” but, ironically, the police state has shown—and continues to show—its true face. The law opens with Article No. 1: “The Right to Life,” which states categorically: - The human right to life is protected by law. - No one may be deprived of life except in execution of a court sentence for a serious crime committed intentionally, for which the death penalty is prescribed by law. - The death penalty may not be imposed on young people who were under 18 at the time of committing the crime, or on women. Our police state answers the law passed by Parliament with a swift, direct response. 1. Korçë: On June 15, two enraged plainclothes policemen brutally attacked 28-year-old Romeo Gaçe, taking his life. The investigator in the case, Miras Zefi, states: “There is no evidence whatsoever that incriminates Romeo Gaçe.” 2. Fier: On June 22, a bunch of policemen charged like madmen, cursing at a 42-year-old from Tropoja, a father of four. 3. Lushnjë: The police take the life of a young man from Divjaka, a case over which justice remains silent to this day. 4. Laç: On August 13, several unruly policemen used physical violence against citizen David Leka, causing his death. 5. Kamez: Nezir Gjoka, the father of Arben Gjoka, whose life was taken by policeman Bashkim Basha, goes all the way to the door of the justice authorities, but... This is our “rule-of-law” state, which protects the laws passed by Parliament on “the rights and freedoms of man”!

On the basis of Decree No. 7408, dated 31.7.1990, “On meetings, gatherings and demonstrations by citizens in public places,” as well as Law No. 7692, dated 31.3.1993, appendix “Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms,” the Steering Committee of the Socialist Party of the City of Tirana decided to organize a peaceful rally in front of the Albanian Radio-Television building on August 20, 1993, from 13:00 to 19:00. The purpose of the rally is to demand the resignation of the Director of the instrument in the hands of the Democratic Party. Moreover, recently they have made the microphone and screen available to criminals like Gjomarkaj, who declare themselves murderers or fascists. They have likewise propagandized the illegal counter-rallies organized by certain forces, known for their anarchic, destructive and destabilizing role, which seriously undermine public order and security. Bearing in mind also ... [text cut off at the bottom of the image] ... the Tirana Public Order Directorate. Under the Decree, the organizers are required to notify the chief of police in writing three days before the rally, whereas the reply was delayed six days. On August 17, 1993, we sent a second letter in which we stressed that we regarded the prolonged silence as approval. But the police state, under the political pressure of the Party-State, bans the holding of this rally on the “ground” that “such activities in front of central institutions ...” [text cut off at the bottom of the image] undermine order and calm, cause disruptions to the normal conduct of the institution’s activities, and obstruct the normal movement of vehicles and citizens who have made it their pre- [Continued on page 4] mind the concrete conditions in the country as well, this rally is expected to be attended by only one tenth of the demonstrators who took part on July 30, 1993. In our letter dated 12.8.1993, together with the relevant slogans, these matters were brought to their attention [text cut off]

The Democratic Party, without a future or a plan for facing the present and projecting and building the future, has increasingly chosen the mire of political trials. This wave of tensions serves those in power to divert the Albanian people’s attention from widespread poverty, mass unemployment and the ever-increasing corruption during their period in government. The experience of the totalitarian state continues to be zealously preserved by today’s rulers as the only way to extend the duration of their time in power. Justice, under the violent pressure of the DP, is heading toward collapse. The spectre of children going hungry compels today’s prosecutors and judges to hand down sentences while being aware that the accusations against Albanian citizens have been fabricated. No civilian citizens testify at Sali Berisha’s disgraceful trials. Only policemen come to testify. This is more or less the conclusion that can be drawn from the five days required to sentence members and sympathizers of the Socialist Party, who took part in large numbers and led the nationwide protest of July 30, 1993. I call them the disgraceful trials of our honoured President, bearing in mind that poverty, destitution and the desire to build genuine democracy in Albania drove Albanian citizens, during those five days of December that were imposed on you, to stand at the forefront of democratic processes and organize hundreds of rallies, hundreds of protests and hundreds of hunger strikes; but, unlike these, they were followed almost immediately by burnings, destruction and violence, the consequences of which are evident and which we are still suffering to this day. The July 30 demonstration deprives you of the moral right to condemn any of its participants, because it is the only demonstration held in Albania after that of the students in December 1990 in which, despite its enormous scale, not a single flower was plucked and not a single pane of glass was broken. Calling yourselves a democratic state is inappropriate unless you ensure respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms, respect for the rule of law, and respect for a people suffering from the incapacity of today’s rulers. Another element that proves the justice of the protest is the fact that in these trials the police accuse, the police testify with pistols on their belts before the court, and the police are controlled by your own hands. But the citizens’ capacity to endure punishment has not run out. Most of the police witnesses deny the fabricated records prepared by the agents of new political punishments, putting the court in a difficult position as well. “It is a sin to fabricate things and condemn an innocent person,” say the police witnesses who signed the fabricated records in the DP’s Political Bureau offices after 4 a.m. These are witnesses of justice, witnesses of conscience, of [?], but there are also those who, as permanent servants of every system, manage to manipulate. Yet their mediocrity once again fails against the intelligence of the socialists. “I know the defendant,” says the false witness naively, and when asked what his features are ... he becomes completely confused. The calls from the courtroom provoke him and even make the court smile. These are shameful and unjustifiable fabrications, even for a dictatorial state, let alone a democratic state as you claim to be. Putting political opponents in the dock is a shameful episode in the history of present-day Albania. The socialists are not afraid. They are ready to endure any punishment because they know they are innocent. They do not withdraw or split apart when attacked; on the contrary, they unite and consolidate. The fact is that the arrests and imprisonments you have carried out are regarded as among the most unjust, that the state and justice are far away, and that dictatorship is in command. Disillusioned people, deeply sorrowful faces, and women who were there for their loved ones, crying and bearing witness for the accused; mothers in black headscarves looking at the judges as they bind their sons’ hands. In the face of this, people who are not afraid of sentences and punishment, judges, prosecutors and lawyers who do not look one another in the eye; this is the tragic picture of these disgraceful trials held in Tirana.

— Arsidi and Ilir Hoti, or those behind them, watch this judicial farce as spectators. — In Albania, “evidence” can be found to convict anyone who steps outside the party’s line, but ... [text cut off at the bottom of the image] ... deposited in the Tirana Savings Bank? And what about the 360 thousand dollars stolen after a signature by Minister Zhulali? — Such spectacular thefts in ... [text cut off at the bottom of the image]

— The “white collars” Hoti, Fullani, Luniku appear before the Tirana Court. — Hoti states that he was with Bufin and Pashko when Xhuliano Amato was appointed negotiator during talks with Zhak Atali. Nevertheless, he later appoints Arsidi as “exclusive negotiator.” — Vilson Ahmeti states once again: “I did not appoint Arsidi as negotiator; Ilir Hoti presented and proposed him to me.” Ilir Hoti immediately states that he never met Ahmeti in Arsidi’s presence. — Tartari and Saliu in the courtroom: “Arsidi issued the bill of exchange and the State Bank accepted it.” The two gentlemen gave details about this. — The fee agreement dated March 25, 1992, states: “with reference to the mandate dated November 1, 1991, issued by Governor Hoti to Mr. Arsidi...” Therefore, a mandate appointing Arsidi as negotiator existed as early as November 1, 1991. Yesterday, at around 9:30, the trial began at the Tirana Court against former Prime Minister Vilson Ahmeti, former director of the Commercial Bank Agron Saliu, and former intermediary for this Bank, Mr. Agim Tartari, one of the few experts in banking law in Albania. After lawyer Pajtim Hoxha presented Government Decision No. 31, dated 25.1.1992, by which the administration and management of the external debt were transferred—a decision that refutes the prosecutor’s claim that the Technical Government had no responsibility even for overseeing the external debt—one of the many [testimony/details] Adrian Fullani, from the foreign department at the Bank [partly illegible]. [Next column] He explained that at the time of the arrival of the USA, it was not known what [...]. The witness also explained that the bill of exchange was issued by the central bank and was to be discounted only by it. This witness also revealed that the bank’s correspondents were the American bank [...]; nevertheless, they instructed “Xhiro Centrale” not to carry out the transaction, a somewhat suspicious act. Adrian Fullani stressed that there is no law on bills of exchange in the country. In response to lawyer Sanxhaku’s question—if there is no law, can a bill of exchange be signed by a governor’s firm?—he replied that another person had also come as a witness. Krustaq Luniku, director of the Monetary Policy Directorate and deputy governor, once again clarified in his testimony when he had been informed of the payment made by the Commercial Bank, while he was in the USA with Hoti, Fullani and Xhyheri. In the answers he gave, and generally, [unclear text]. Lljana Nanaj, an economist in the foreign-exchange department at the Commercial Bank, said that around mid-December Agron Saliu and Agim Tartari had asked her what foreign currency was available for a payment to Arsidi of 640,000 dollars. In April, the second payment of 945,000 dollars was made by telegraphic transfer. She said that she did not remember whether she had been shown the bill of exchange for the first payment, whereas in the second case she said she had been shown the bill of exchange together with the mandates signed by Hoti, Xhyheri and Ahmeti. Around September 16, Agim Tartari brought me the bill of exchange together with a document from Accounting. Toward the end of September, Ilir Hoti called me and asked why they had executed the payment. I told him all the steps I had taken. Questions and answers then took place between the witnesses and Agron Saliu and Agim Tartari, going into details about the banking transactions. After a 20-minute break, Ilir Hoti, governor of the Bank of Albania, appeared in the courtroom. The “former” minister did so especially after Mr. Ahmeti’s accusations in the Italian Parliament. Mr. Hoti appeared as a witness regarding the independence of the charges; the indictment states: Vilson Ahmeti, at the Albanian Bank, at the State Bank, has done […] “of his duty.” Yet so far there is no official of this bank in the dock. Ilir Hoti began his testimony with the month of September, when he was in the USA and was informed of the payment made by the Commercial Bank to the accounts of Nikolas Arsidi. We immediately ordered “Xhiro Centrale” in Vienna to block all payments. Later we learned that the payment had been made earlier. On returning to Albania, I convened the board and carried out an inspection, which showed that both the first and second payments had been made without an order from me. The first payment was also made without any documents; the bill of exchange, Hoti emphasized, was issued on March 25, while it was discounted by the Commercial Bank one month later, on April 24. Mr. Hoti concluded his testimony by saying: “With the payment order on which they had written ‘urgent,’ and after two days they left for Luxembourg.” Mr. Hoti then answered the defendants’ questions, and everything in his answers was suspicious. Thus, in one answer Mr. Hoti said that he first met Arsidi around mid-December ’91, when Arsidi introduced himself as the prime minister’s commercial adviser and asked to be the negotiator for the external debt and foreign borrowing. Later, he presented himself with the mandate of December 15. Mr. Hoti described the discounting of the bill of exchange by the Commercial Bank as illegal, because there is no legislation governing it. Mr. Hoti admitted that he was with Bufin and Pashko when, in the presence of Zhak Atali, Xhuliano Amato was appointed negotiator. Nevertheless, the mandate he issued states: “Arsidi is granted exclusive negotiating rights.” Hoti explained this exclusivity by saying that under a new government, what came before is nullified? The discrepancy between the date of March 20 ’92 on the bill of exchange and March 25, the date on which Hoti says the bill was drawn up, was noticeable. Messrs. Tartari and Saliu stated that the bill of exchange was issued by Arsidi and accepted by the State Bank, and they pointed out as a detail a French word, “exemple,” below, where Hoti’s signature and those of the others appear. Mr. Hoti said there was a five-day difference because the document had been sent printed from France, as they had no forms. For the second time, Mr. Hoti stressed that he had not asked anyone to make a payment, and pointed out that the records had not been entered in the accounts and that documents had been withheld by Messrs. Saliu and Tartari. The defendants replied that the accounting had been done in April by Perikli Samsuri and that Mr. Hoti had been informed of it. Mr. Hoti denied this and said he had summoned Perikli Sansuri upon returning from the USA. Hoti requested a confrontation with the witness Samsuri, which the court ordered immediately. Mr. Samsuri stood by both what he had said the previous day—that he had been called in during May—and what Hoti had said. It was strange that this witness was outside the courtroom at the moment Hoti had just requested a confrontation. He later stated that he had never met Mr. Ahmeti in Arsidi’s presence; they had only spoken to him by telephone when the Frenchmen came to the office and asked me to make him the negotiator. Mr. Ahmeti stated that he had not appointed Arsidi as negotiator either; Governor Hoti had presented and proposed him for the role. As for the telephone call, Mr. Ahmeti said that on that day you had only requested a meeting with the prime minister. Mr. Hoti said that we had spoken around December 15. And in that combined mandate, he had issued it earlier than the December 15 mandate. I learned of the December 16 mandate in September. Mr. Hoti concluded that the mandate he had issued did not authorize the payment. The trial continues today at 11:00. ERION BRAÇE

— judicial farce as spectators. — takes one step away from the crowd at a lawful rally, while those who sign documents to steal millions of dollars can be exonerated with a personal statement approved as “forged signatures.” — Where did the 300 thousand dollars stolen from the Tirana Savings Bank go? signature by Minister Zhuhali? — Such spectacular thefts are beyond what the people can fathom. Their true nature will be exposed one day, when power changes hands. — The threads of the mafia twist around the hub of power, and in Albania only those without eyes and ears fail to see this.