- Public opinion is demanding those responsible for the Shkodër killing -

THE KILLING OF GJOVALIN ÇEKINI - THE BITTER FRUIT OF POLITICAL INTOLERANCE In its rotten boat and without a rudder, the PD was carried along by a favorable wind and had to[?] the PD, the most successful in the whole East, did this. It watched the water rush in with the fury with which this breach sees itself sinking. It watches and can do nothing. In these circumstances it has found it more reasonable to blame others, there where no blame can be placed. This is what Ali Spahia did at the first session of the parliamentary session that began Thursday evening. The Democratic Party in general, and Ali Spahia in particular, are directly accused as organizers of political violence, as instigators of this climate that took the life of the young Gjovalin Çekini. But Ali Spahia is immune to these accusations. He thinks he can convince people with a statement he made that he has never sought justice... This man of justice read before parliament a statement in which, in his now well-known political style, he said only that Albania[?] and, for all others beyond the state borders, declared that the killing of Gjovalin Çekini is the result of European guilt and the destabilizing, destructive, mad activity of the far-left forces. In order to divert attention from himself and from his party, Mr. Spahia finds the occasion (with no connection or logic whatsoever) to attack Zëri i Popullit, calling it "the notorious newspaper of the far left and the cruel extremism known to Europe". Anyone with a bit of sense understands that the words of the declaration are not simply the words of this little Spahiu. To write that declaration, many people in the PD broke their heads over it. But even God himself is very broad-minded to raise a stone on the path, (tactics and logic) which fail cannot lead them to the declaration they make about this event. In good faith, the opposition was given a sentimental and unlawful abuse by Spahiu. For this (ADV) the Shkodër killing is called a political killing because before the meeting four armed men ambushed the PDS officials. The victim was a participant in the meeting and a member of the PAD. The incriminated persons are linked to institutions in the hall where members, deputies, etc. took part. Paskaj Milo (PDS) calls the tragic event of Shkodër a killing with motives and political nerves, a period of inter-party intolerance. (Continues on page 4) BEQIR SKRELI

Seven days after the tragic event of 14 January in Shkodër, in which the young Gjovalin Çekini lost his life, the Democratic Party, in order to justify it, still does not want to adopt a clear position on it. The statement by the Ministry of Public Order, the statement by the National Executive of the PD, that of the parliamentary group, and the pronouncements of the press of this party have only shown the difficult position in which the PD finds itself in the face of such an event. In Mr. Selami's press statement before the newspapers, in response to the question, there was only one brief mention of the Shkodër event. Meanwhile, focusing the event on the "question-and-answer area" is nothing more than a deliberate attempt to divert public opinion from it. It seems that the Shkodër event is becoming like a sharp nail in current Albanian politics. There is no provocation not only in the circumstances of the crime, but also in a series of other events that preceded it. The blood shed in Shkodër on 14 January could also have been shed on 18 June. But it could also have happened in many other cases of confrontation with the activity of the Socialist Party. The roots of the tragic event in Shkodër lie in political intolerance. Only, this intolerance is becoming responsible for the intolerance that has always been in power, for those who have force. Mr. Selami stated at the press conference that the event - has political nuances -, "there are political events, but it is not against the parties" between 14 April and 14 January. This is a grain between two citizens who have no connection whatsoever with the power of the PD, he said. Meanwhile, PD deputies stood up in parliament, together with the other deputies, to honor the victim. These facts put the PD in a difficult position. If you stand up in parliament to honor the victim, that means that in practice you have accepted that the entire Shkodër affair and the killing are a political crime. In another case one must accept that no attempt to justify this crime should be made. The impression was created that, over the passing days, the PD group had come to parliament when it mourned the victim of 14 January. But the facts speak differently. The PD deputies immediately dec- (Continues on page 3)

EXTRAORDINARY CONCENTRATION OF POLICE FORCES IN THE CAPITAL - Popular demonstrations are being replaced by police demonstrations - Yesterday Tirana's squares were populated more by uniformed people than by ordinary citizens. Its boulevards and streets were crossed more by the wheels of police cars with plates from Tirana and the districts nearest to it, and by the wheels of unmarked cars, than by the feet of hundreds of its citizens. All this happened from 11 a.m. until the late afternoon. Yesterday at 1 p.m. we were moving through the streets of Tirana to see up close this absurd mobilization of police organs. What we saw could be summed up as follows: At 5 minutes before Parliament, in Albania, we saw a police car with a Librazhd plate. A few meters away there were also two unmarked cars; inside them was a financial police car with plate Gr. 71 571. A convoy of two cars full of police officers moved away from Elbasan, El 0008, and another one with a plate. Right there, apparently on patrol, was another police car with plate TR 0319 Z. Leaving with it, other glaring sights were near the Military Branch of Tirana; in its yard we saw a large number of uniformed members of the rapid intervention forces who set off by red "Benz" bus covered with curtains. 1:35 p.m. Near TVSH there was another police car, TR 0303 Z; on the road opposite the Palace of Congresses was a platoon of police, 8 strong. At the same hour inside the Qemal Stafa stadium, on its steps, we saw a considerable number of rapid intervention forces. Outside it, a dark blue police car without plates and around it 15 police officers. Opposite the Guard of the Republic, next to the Academy of Fine Arts, there were two police cars, one without plates, and around 25 police officers in them. At 1:50 p.m., near the Socialist Party building, there were two more cars without plates, inside which, behind dark windows, were many police officers. Around 3 p.m. on the boulevard "Dëshmorët e Kombit" a police car with plate TR 0318 Z was placed. At the same time, in the square in front of the Art Exhibition, 10 police officers were getting out of an ambulance with the plate removed, and they began to stroll in front of Hotel "Dajti". At 3:15 p.m., from the ring road into the boulevard came another police car with Tirana plates. At that same moment two more cars full of police officers also entered the boulevard, one of them with plate TR 0319 Z. Continuing further in front of Television, beside the "Qemal Stafa" stadium, inside it and near it in front of it, we saw deployments of police forces. As we came out onto the boulevard we encountered platoons of police officers patrolling there. Around 4 p.m., opposite the "Dinamo" stadium, we saw a shiny "Fiat" coming quickly toward the square in front of the stadium, with green plates RSH 009, with 5 seats, the Albanian emblem. It seemed to us that it was the Minister of Order; the car stopped quickly there by the guard. Inside the "Dinamo" stadium there were a large number of rapid intervention forces who had left helmets, shields and rubber batons on the edge of the field. Leaving there with an "Ifa" with plates TR 07694 and LU 54070. At the same time, on the stadium side opposite the Kilometer, there were two police cars, one with plate TR 0334 Z and the other without a plate. At 4:10 p.m. on "Dëshmorët e Kombit" boulevard, three cars full of police officers, without their plates, were patrolling, and on the boulevard platoons of police officers of 7 men were patrolling. As we were leaving and entering the square, we saw two more cars patrolling, TR 0303 Z and TR 0334 Z. In the square there were platoons of police officers coming and going. Such were also present near the mosque. Later, on the boulevard beyond the train station, two other unmarked police cars were patrolling. We have described here only what we saw. Naturally, we leave aside the other forces concentrated on the outskirts of Tirana. We are also not speaking about the criminal police, Sigurimi, military police, and many other civilians who were on duty like the forces mentioned above. JETON DRAGOBIA

- All the men of the Lula family, from the youngest at 15 years old to the oldest at 62, Asllan Lula, are held without cause for 17 hours at Police Station No. 2 and then released. - On Wednesday at 4:30 in the morning, a police platoon (more than 20 men) surrounded an apartment building in Tirana where the Lula family was living and, after conducting residential searches, took 5 people to the police station whom they had had in custody. After some time, the father of the brothers, 62-year-old Asllan Lula, appears at the police station offices to be interned; he too is detained for 6 hours by the employees of that station. At 9:00 p.m. on that same Wednesday, the six men of this family are released, but that was not the end of it. Two hours later, 11 were detained by a police officer from the housing unit under police supervision, who, as he explained, was waiting for a payroll, while this family was waiting for the one for whom all this movement had been made. This person was one of the brothers, Musa Lula, who was outside the house among many others. What was the reason for all this? Those previously detained and later released explained that at the station they had been given orders to search for and had them produced for (Continues on page 2)

- More than 100 boys and girls who emigrated to Greece are "missing". - After the scandal that happened with the 89 girls employed by the government in Cyprus, Mr. Dashamir Shehi continues to remain in office. The newspaper "Zëri i popullit" has for some time now opened a daily column, "In aid of refugees." It undertook this action in order to help citizens and people in hardship who have lost other family members and their children all over the world, and who do not know the address where they are located. So far, many citizens have come to the editorial office, asking for their lost hope to be restored. Meanwhile, by fax and through many missing and unknown persons, we work to secure and find their relatives. Nevertheless, like "Zëri i popullit". In every case we have made them known on its pages, always written with their names, and the two big numbers, and the information about the girls and the over 100, that they are alive and have been found. This number is over 100. We will not stop at this practice, which is now encountered in Albania as well. It will continue and meanwhile grow. But from where, and in a human and uninterrupted way, since now it is those who have lost ties and need to be alive and in a normal condition in them. Citizens who have come to government officials in such a presentation do nothing to create state structures for the fate of their citizens. Specifically, our question is: the Greek government is unable to really tell you and to recognize where a girl in love with a boy from Vlorë here in Albania lived and how safe her life was. Whereas these complete data on the connections of teachers and hundreds of such cases have taken no action, have made no move to shed light on the missing person and even less on the loved ones, etc. What is this Mrs. Qeva[?] doing? It is good that she has brought them close, good that she does not respect them and that nobody believes she can go around to sign regular emigration contracts, but to make a human effort (at least a human one) she is not able to do it? Do you employ, yes or no, 80 girls employed in Cyprus with the help of the government? It is a real shame, a stain that could be borne by ministers like Mr. Dashamir Shehi. Nevertheless, it does not affect him at all. Mr. Shehi continues to keep people hoping that he received them for a wage arrangement, for emigration prospects, for the opening of new employment fronts and other things that only some cunning Albanian desires could have invented, scattered across Europe, but with no hope, with no support from their Albanian government, while they ask for it. Nevertheless, it makes no impression on him. A picture has now been created, but to un- (Continues on page 3)

The Minister of Order is asked about Shkodër. It is clear that he is present in this city, after that bitter and painful event that took place on 14 January, when the young Gjovalin Çekini lost his life. We do not know whether Mr. Musaraj was at the headquarters of the Public Order Commissariat of this district, at the kilometer marker, where he met any of the leaders of this institution in order to make a more concrete statement about the accusations being made against the law-enforcement officers, but they were not even allowed to approach by the service police and he said that help has arrived and everyone is busy. Even without speaking, it was not difficult to understand among the police a desire to meet Mr. Musaraj. It seems that they very much wanted to meet their minister. However, Mr. Musaraj met with the leaders of the commissariat, while he did not address the police force. Why so, was time not enough or was it necessary? He himself knows best, but it makes one think. The law-enforcement forces in this district, at the same time, from a broad public opinion, are the opposite. Such seems to be you as well. In your presence, too, and differently, everyone is being careful, you stand very well understood by the center agencies? When they do not feel secure and protected by the state, what can they themselves do to protect the citizens? When they go and suspect that things are not going well, because either the police themselves or incapable people are placed in command of them, they themselves become demoralized. When they understand that the secrets of professional work are being sold in the market, then they become frightened because each one wants to keep his own head safe. Thus these and other things, Mr. Minister, the employees of this commissariat themselves could have said with simplicity, if only you had met them. In this way the reasons for police action or inaction would also be brought to light, in order to avoid the events that are being brought to an end. As for the killing of Gjovalin Çekini, he said: "so that the meeting before January would not be of interest to the police force". Two statements were transmitted[?], one from the Ministry of Order and the other from the investigative group on the circumstances of this killing; both statements were opposed as departing from the truth. However, how is it explained that they are kept silent, who authorized them to be formulated and who formulated them? And finally, who bears responsibility for the failure of public opinion? Even for these issues your answer was necessary. So your arrival in Shkodër was received with interest, because we thought you would leave without putting some things straight. But you left very quickly? Your business. Only, it cannot be assumed that things are going in the right direction. when amp[?] from you can be followed by the dismissal from work of some[?] employee in this body. Correspondent of "Zëri i popullit"