THE PARTY STATES: The civil registry employee in Rrogozhinë “Hinders the reform” THE PARTY STATES: The civil registry employee in Rrogozhinë “Hinders the reform” Read this document: Clarification: Beggana Grëmi, who is being dismissed from her job as a civil registry employee in Rrogozhinë, is “without the relevant education” because she has only completed secondary school. Her other “sin” is that she is a socialist. MS. BEGZANA GRËMI As part of the economic reform and due to your lack of the relevant education, by Decision No. 14, dated 18.3.1993, hand over your duties to Ms. Fatmira Gripshi at the office where you work. Your employment-related payments will cease on 1.4.1993. Fatmira Gripshi, who is replacing her, has Her other merit is that she is a first cousin of Mr. Blerin Çela himself. MAYOR IZET GRECA

Whom should we believe: WORDS OR FACTS Floresha Sakiaqi, a member of the management council of “Unika e Çimentos” in Fushë-Krujë and a candidate of sciences, published in the newspaper on October 29, 1992, with two issues appearing one after the other. In fact, both were dismissed from their jobs, so they served to disguise the true purpose of Floresha’s dismissal. To achieve the purpose of the persecutor, Article 24 of our democratic parliament is truly magical. On November 7, 1992, a confrontation took place between the enterprise’s management council, the enterprise’s free trade union leadership, the district federation and the district confederation. At this confrontation, the director was unable to justify her removal for incompetence and postponed it for another time. This member of the management council was dismissed, to keep her from receiving assistance. To obtain her rights, Floresha turned to the court. At the first two hearings the director did not appear; at the third, the head of administration came with a new justification: “It is impossible for a woman comrade to work in such a difficult sector—Oh, the irony of fate.” The enterprise representative withdrew, saying: “I am not in a position to assess it; he is the director of the enterprise, I think he is an engineer, let the director come himself (!)”. This is how Mr. Pëllumb Koka had evaluated her work, among other things: “For the first time here, this very important process is treated from such a broad and complex perspective.” Mr. Pëllumb Koka had been the reviewer of her work for the candidate-of-sciences degree, as well as its opponent on the Central Attestation Commission. He must carry out the mother order, otherwise he himself will end up on assistance. And to achieve this, he does not hesitate to switch from one justification to another, so long as she ends up on assistance. At the next hearing the director again did not appear (apparently he could not face the truth), but sent a standards officer with a secondary-school education, who read aloud the director’s written assessment. We are living in an age of paradoxes and absurdities: the assessment stated that she had given up on her profession because of incompetence, while also saying that she had the ability to work anywhere, but that the job was difficult and the personnel unqualified, and that she could do highly skilled work but not difficult work. Rightly showing these tragicomic situations, in which our intellectual today is dismissed solely because of her convictions, Floresha could not contain her indignation at the accusation that the workers were lazy.

Albanians should take the best things from the world — The parliament of the Bosnian Serbs has convened to consider the Vance-Owen plan. Karaxhiçi considers its approval doubtful. Yeltsin’s envoy is also at the meeting. — Norway’s Foreign Minister, Stoltenberg, has accepted the OSCE’s offer to replace Vance as co-chairman of the peace conference on the former Yugoslavia. Interview by GENC XHULI with the painter from Padua, ENNIO ZATTARIN: Yesterday evening at 6:00 p.m., an exhibition by the Italian painter Ennio Zattarin opened at the National Gallery of Figurative Arts in the capital. Ennio Zattarin has held successful solo exhibitions in Padua, Caracas, Zurich, Lima, Istanbul, Gramish and Munich, and most recently in Tirana. In Albania, this exhibition... Answer: It was an honor for me to do this for Albania, because I wanted to get to know it, and for it to get to know me. I was courageous, also because I know the history of Turkey and, consequently, I think I knew a little about its history. Among the most notable events are: in 1986, an exhibition in Venice and Florence; in 1987, an art exhibition in Poland; in 1988, the San Fietro exhibition in Perugia; in 1990, a fresco in Italy and Switzerland; in 1992, his exhibition at the National Museum of Malta; and on April 3, 1993, at the National Gallery of Arts of Albania. Taking this opportunity, we interviewed Mr. (maestro) Zattarin. Question: What does it represent for you ...rin Vens-Ouen. Kaqashi... [?] the approval is uncertain. Jelcin’s envoy is also at the meeting. - Norway’s Foreign Minister, Stoltenberg, has accepted the OBK’s offer to replace Vensin - Greece has lodged a vigorous protest with Italy over Fabio Fabri’s statement that “If Macedonia is not recognized, Italy will set a good example.” - Seven people were brought down by a helicopter that was to fly over Bosnia. To enforce the “no-fly” zone, NATO will deploy 50–100 of its aircraft. - Italy has authorized the use of its bases by aircraft that will monitor enforcement of the “no-fly” zone in Bosnia. The Serbian Orthodox Church has declared itself against the Vens-Ouen peace plan for Bosnia. - President Bill Clinton has announced the appointment of Viktor Jacković as the first U.S. ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina. - The parliament of the self-proclaimed “republic” of the Serbs in Bosnia rejected a resolution that considered the Vens-Ouen plan “a good basis for an agreement.” - The self-proclaimed parliament of the Bosnian Serbs rejected, almost unanimously, the Vens-Ouen peace plan for Bosnia as unacceptable. - Egyptian President Mubarak has returned Muhamet Abu Halilman, who was arrested in Egypt and, according to the authorities, disclosed information about the attack on the New York towers. Halimas’s extradition is expected. - A Palestinian activist of Al Fatah died in Ashkelon prison during the investigation. - An Israeli soldier was killed and another wounded by gunfire at a checkpoint by their Israeli colleagues. This demonstrates rising tensions among them. - Well-known Italian and French jurists are jointly discussing the effectiveness and shortcomings of electoral law and the majoritarian rules. - The French government’s coldness became apparent, where for the first time they found themselves (Continued on page 4) ...this exhibition of painting in Albania. Answer: – For me, it was a warm welcome, the hospitality shown by Albanians, and their respect. Question: – Is this your last exhibition here with us? Answer: – I would like to take part in another one in the future, because this exhibition (which opened at the wish of the Italian ambassador here in Albania) consists of some of the works from the exhibition that is currently open in Switzerland at this moment. Question: – At this moment, what would you like to say to our people? The only thing Albanians should take from the world is the best things: its civilization and culture. Thank you, Mr. Zattarin.

Around the middle of last year, the President of the Republic, Mr. Sali Berisha, announced on Albanian television a corruption scandal that had reached even state-level proportions in the public order branch in Korçë and at the Kapshticë customs post. The central figure in this corruption, supposedly on a grand scale, was to be the former head of the public order branch in Korçë, Sotiraq Ceta. This sensational announcement suited the political developments of those moments, with the slogan: “Do you want to meet the red mafia? Here is one of them.” After that, speculation was free to run wild. The investigation began immediately. A huge bubble appeared on the scene as the investigations got under way, filled with “numerous denunciations” and accusations against the police officers of the public order branch in Korçë and its leaders. They were viewed as representatives of the old tradition and were to be subjected to the methods and practices of investigation used by the former dictatorship. The investigative team from Tirana, which launched its work at lightning speed, was soon inundated with statements and malicious claims. It was not long before this bubble suddenly began to deflate. The major corruption scandal was not being substantiated by the specialists and officials of the prosecution in Tirana, the Tirana District investigative office, and the assistant investigators in Korçë. This is precisely where the investigation began to drag on: there was a prolonged silence, the indictment was completed only in a formal sense, the defendants were not questioned, and so on. (During the ten months of pretrial detention, they were questioned only twice.) Faced with this voluminous case file, and also afraid of those who had ordered the initiation of this proceeding, the investigative group found itself in the position of “I caught a thief and want to let him go, but he won’t let me.” The public, feeling sorry for those who had ordered and drawn up this case, learned that the file had been transferred from Tirana to Korçë, into the hands of an investigator and a prosecutor who, after five months, had no idea what to do with the “specimen” born in Tirana. Thus, Tirana handed the baton to Korçë. Korçë handed it to the court. For the next five months, there was only silence. All five defendants continued their “normal” lives in their cells, now accused of the crime of abuse of office under Article 106 of the Penal Code. The trial began some time ago in Korçë, but was interrupted for further investigations. The testimony of the former chairman of the pluralist committee of the Korçë District was also requested; he is now the Minister of Construction and Territorial Regulation, Mr. Ilir Manushi. His written testimony favored the defendants. During the judicial investigation, from the witnesses’ statements, the analysis of documentary evidence, and so on, those present in the courtroom saw a badly contrived trial that did not establish the elements of the crime described in Article 106 of the Penal Code. Some denunciations had been obtained by improper means and gave the impression that they had been prepared in those offices where the spiders once still sucked the life out of people who were not pro-dictatorship. During the trial, there were witnesses who stated that they had been threatened during the investigation and asked leading questions intended to prove the defendants’ guilt. At a time when parliament had passed the law on human freedoms and rights, the court in Korçë, in its own hilarity, delivered its verdict in the name of the people: the head of the public order branch, Sotiraq Ceta, was sentenced to 11 months’ imprisonment; after serving 10 months in pretrial detention, he therefore had only a month left to serve, and so on! Four former employees of this branch were sentenced to just one month, which they had already served in pretrial detention, and one employee (now a pensioner at the age of 36) was sentenced to re-education through work. Anyone who followed the end of this marathon investigation, which lasted ten months, had the opportunity to become fully convinced that this trial’s alleged crime had been fabricated, discrediting the democracy for which we all still dream and hope.

The land was given to us according to the law, but not the title deeds; now they are taking it from us again Mr. President, honorable members of parliament and government! We are writing to you through the newspaper about our plight, asking you to help us. We are 24 families in the village of Belaj, in the Dajç Commune of the Shkodër District. Our village was among the first to establish a Commission for distributing land in accordance with the law. In a short time the land was divided, making us all its rightful owners. We were overjoyed; this was the greatest victory democracy had given us, and so we supported it and fought—and continue to fight—for its consolidation. But our joy did not last long. Only a short time later, just as the first owners began to prosper, the “owners” of the old boundaries began to show up—some from the village and some arriving from other villages. They threatened to take even our first crops from us. Finally, they warned us not to work the land granted to us by law any longer. We have also taken this matter to the Commune and to the local authorities in this district, but so far they have offered us no solution. It is said that the title deeds were given to the leaders of our village land commission to distribute to us, but they have not done so yet, apparently because they too want to take all the land they had according to the old boundaries. Thus, today we have been left without land. Spring has come and is passing, and we still have not planted anything. I no longer know how we will manage to get through this year! Who else can we turn to about this? From 24 heads of household in the village of Belaj, Dajç Commune, Shkodër District

“What is Jesus Christ according to the Bible” is the topic of the conference that will take place from

“Who of the conference to be delivered by the speaker Paasjuale Di Nunzio, a Bible scholar from Milan, Italy, in one of the halls of the Palace of Congresses from April 6 to 10, 1993, at 5:00 p.m. The conference is organized by the Evangelical Christian Brethren, based in Tirana, who hold activities in the hall of Youth House No. 1 (near the Ballet School) every Tuesday and Thursday at 5:00 p.m. and every Sunday at 10:00 a.m. Admission to the conference is free, and everyone is warmly invited.

Editor-in-chief THOMA GELLCI, deputy editor-in-chief SHYQYRI MEKA. Editorial office address: “Dëshmorët e Kombit” Boulevard – Tirana. Information telephone: 042/233 87. Fax: 042/270 47. Account number at the State Bank: 608/110.