Scandals from the age of scandals WHY WERE 5 BILLION LIRE IN EMERGENCY AID USED? - An analytical report by the Hygiene Directorate fills warehouses with unusable heaters. - 5 billion lire were not enough to warm even a single Albanian family. Who is responsible for them? 6,000 gas heaters of the blocked type and, up to now, only silence about them. This is the balance sheet of the long "odyssey" that followed the emergency aid worth 5 billion lire allocated by the Italian side for heating Albania and its cars. Arriving in the first days of February 1993 with a quantity of 11,000 heaters and 22,000 gas cylinders, they began to be distributed at a dizzying speed until 26.2.1993, when they were blocked by analytical report no. 72 of the Tirana Hygiene Directorate, signed by the director Dr. Stefan Lefteri. The letter was sent to the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Construction, the Tirana Municipality, as well as through the cooperation office at the Italian Embassy in Tirana. According to the measurements (more than 20), the analytical report stresses carbon monoxide levels ranging from 2 to 28 times above the permitted limits, and requests that they be blocked and not used. These are gas heaters model 21 R 53, Italian-made, by the company: Sva Carvan Camping-madres, Via Canova 1125010 Cantanaro e. Lono-Brescia, which were chosen as the most suitable for the major needs, worth 5.7 billion lire, provided for heating Albanian families. The heaters, says a specialist, are unusable; they burn poorly, they have no protection for enclosed use, etc. For me, obtaining them was a major action. The long and complicated "odyssey" of answering the issue begins with the questions: How did they come to Albania, how were they selected, who made the selection, and why did their distribution begin so quickly? In September 1993, Deputy Teta in the public parliament denounced police corruption in Albanian affairs. In his list, the names of Bashkim Kopliku and Alfred Serreqi were mentioned precisely in connection with the heater issue. But although enough time has passed, the silence around these problems still continues; first and foremost, the silence of Mr. Kopliku, who, with the task of bringing them in, covered the duties of the chairman of the heating commission, is inexplicable. A statement by him on such an issue sheds light on the truth of the event. After the 6,000 remaining pieces were blocked by the Hygiene Directorate report, movement also began, albeit hesitantly. Representatives of the Italian company cannot accept the blocking of distribution as the first step toward canceling the contract, having held three meetings with cooperation officials at the Italian embassy. Regarding the issue of withdrawing the sent goods, the company representative cannot accept the laboratory measurement data. In May 1993, at the request of the Italian side, it was asked that the measurements also be carried out by the company, but to this day no reply has come from their side; The report requesting their suspension was sent to the Italian Embassy with the signatures of the Hygiene Directorate, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Construction, and the Municipality of Priskëry, at the beginning of April, and one of the prime ministers was in April 1993. But still nothing. The heaters remain blocked. The analytical report of the central Hygiene Directorate in Tirana, ironically, is asking for buyers at the Directorate of Fuel in Tirana. So the heaters are being sought to be removed from use, but for publication. So far there has been no public consumption. Their full distribution would put an end to the long odyssey by getting rid of the concerns of the officials involved. A little, but a full 5.7 billion lire, which were wasted. Someone must take responsibility for them, and first of all those who signed, those who allowed it, those who sent specialists to supervise it, those who continue to remain silent. It would not be bad if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the cooperation office with Italy, also made a statement, just as it would not be bad if Bashkim Kopliku spoke first.

After the rise in fuel prices - Passenger ticket prices on interurban lines rise by 25 percent. - A reaction is expected in the prices of consumer goods. - Wholesale traders who transport goods with foreign vehicles remain indifferent. After the rise in fuel prices Open horizons for prices - Passenger ticket prices on interurban lines rise by 25 percent. - A reaction is expected in the prices of consumer goods. - Wholesale traders who transport goods with foreign vehicles remain indifferent. A full week has passed since the government's decision to raise fuel prices came into force. Naturally, this measure was reflected in the first days of implementation in passenger ticket prices. All private drivers on all intercity routes responded to the rise in fuel prices with an average increase of 55 percent in ticket prices. To travel from Tirana to Elbasan by bus, a passenger now has to pay 75 lek, compared with 55 lek for the ticket before January 16, while taxi drivers on this route now ask for twice the previous price. A sharp increase in ticket prices has been noticed these days on the north-eastern routes of the country. Thus, passenger tickets on buses for the districts of Shkodër, Peshkopi, etc. have nearly doubled. The new fuel price seems not to have affected ticket prices on international routes such as Tirana-Skopje, Tirana-Athens, Tirana-Istanbul, etc. For now, passengers will not have to pay anything extra, and this may be linked to the fact that international routes are scheduled, and in most cases with foreign vehicles, which are not affected by fuel prices here. The effect of fuel prices on these routes may also be dictated by contracts previously concluded between local and foreign transport drivers. At the ticket counters of rail transport for mass passengers, ticket prices for all lines have not changed. Before the fuel price increase, rail tickets were already unaffected by fuel price changes. Likewise, the price of urban transport tickets has still not undergone any change. We do not know whether the Ministry of Transport has decided to absorb the financial effect of the fuel price increase itself and not reflect it in passenger tickets. In any case, for now the price remains the same and there has been no official statement from the Ministry of Transport on how it will act later. Meanwhile, the government's latest decision on a new diesel price has also set the goods market in motion. In the conditions of a paralysis of production in the country, when the Albanian market is supplied almost entirely from abroad, the price of products turns out to be largely dependent on transport costs. Even so, transport costs directly make up a large percentage of the cost of any good that will enter Albania from now on, and this will certainly be passed on in a new rise in prices for a large number of items. Many wholesale traders of the country's now well-known companies carry out their trade using foreign transport vehicles, which, as noted above, remain indifferent and unaffected by any change in Albanian fuel prices; thus the prices of the goods they trade, regardless of commercial logic, are not expected to change for psychological reasons. But a large part of Albanian traders transport their goods with their own vehicles, so a rise in prices seems inevitable. In many companies, perhaps in order to keep prices at the current level, they will continue doing so until the arrival of the next shipments of goods. Then... The rise in passenger ticket prices is the first sign of the market's reaction to the measure of raising fuel prices. At the moment when the new fuel price reaches its "international quota", surely the prices of various articles will have reached even higher and happier heights...

The investigative group dealing with the inquiry into the tragic event of January 14 in Shkodër refused to provide information about the progress of the investigation so far. Everything is tied to the secret nature of the investigation. But in one way or another, one understands from them that there are major claims concerning the witnesses. These claims are based on the fact that the first witnesses are mainly those who personally saw and heard the events of that night up close and can speak about them with certainty. We cannot judge solely on the basis of how well-founded this claim is, but taking it as such, it will be acknowledged that there is a not insignificant part of the claims that may prove the existence of insecurity or danger, sooner or later, for those who make these statements. It has been publicly stated that some of those who have testified so far have also been threatened. Their protection and safety should not be left only to the law-enforcement bodies. To whom does it matter that the witnesses' safety is not guaranteed? Clearly, it matters only to those who want to delay and remove objectivity from this issue in order to move on. We should also not forget another fact. The event was carried out in the presence of dozens of members of the law-enforcement forces. This fact alone is enough to show the atmosphere of fear that exists. The witnesses of the January 14 event must be guaranteed safety by law, by the competent state authorities. It was also expected that the parliamentary group specially appointed by Parliament for this matter would come to Shkodër. By noon, it had not arrived.

Police power “makes jokes” with repressive means - Minister Musaraj tells "Gazeta Shqiptare": It was a routine check! - The Minister is nowhere to be found among the people. He warns that the January 21 police operation will involve three more days of "routine checks". "It was a routine check." The display of machine guns and Kalashnikovs, and this statement by the Minister of Public Order, Mr. Musaraj, was likewise marked by an extraordinary demonstration in Tirana on Friday of last week. The minister's statement, which should have been made before the threatening response of an irritated person as minister turned into hostage-taking, given by members of "Zëri i Popullit", continues with this. Not that there were more forces. In fact, patrols have been circulating in Tirana for days, only today without the sign "Police" on them. Minister Musaraj - it was a day to be seen, checking drivers for carrying weapons without a permit and for lacking proper documentation. If most of us had not lived through the extremes of the "pilot 90" time segment - January '94 - we would gladly have believed Mr. Musaraj's statement and the press report (of a newspaper). But the truth is different. I have seen such a concentration of police forces in Tirana only in December 1990, under the leadership then of the Minister of the Interior Hekuran Isai. As then, the truth this time too is mixed with falsehood. For the first time, Tirana's police forces had been reinforced by hundreds more from Lushnja, Elbasan, Durrës, etc. Because for 24 straight hours various blue "Fiat Ducato" vehicles, under the weight of numerous police officers, moved through the streets, boulevards and central squares of Tirana without any identifying mark, not even the sign "Police". Because for 24 hours the police roadblocks did not check anyone (as far as we saw within the city). That surveillance, that monitoring, kept on alert, demonstrating a visible presence. Because for 24 hours straight, the rapid intervention forces that came from Elbasan and Lushnja "gathered" on the green fields of the "Q. Stafa" and "Dinamo" stadiums passers-by, cartmen, the calm, shoppers, tires. It was an exercise of cultivation with tabutje from the state's difficult situation. Because for 24 hours straight, ambulances without license plates, with erased plates, were also put at the disposal of the police forces!!! But what is worth highlighting in the statement of the head of the law-enforcement forces, the criminal police and anti-drug police, is not, above all, that there was one. The truth is made obvious in the eyes of the citizens of Tirana, who then felt themselves provoked, frightened, under the weight of violence. The truth is that Mr. Minister did not appear. No matter why. For him, January 21 was a "routine check"; now, in the political message of a "routine check," the minister warns that in the coming days, "in the framework of the modernization of the Albanian Police," there will again be "routine checks." And people will again be escorted to the pillar on the boulevard "Dëshmorët e Kombit", while police cars will again be on the road, with platoons? — where police officers will check their pockets and pull the threads out of each other's clothing. The person who feels himself under the weight of violence will again and again be taken away and again and again will "eat" breakfast, lunch and dinner, until they "calm down." But contrary to all this, for human rights, Elbasanxi proved it first, on Saturday at noon.

NO STATEMENTS OUTSIDE THE COMPETENCIES! NO PREMATURE CONCLUSIONS! The trigger for this article was a dual interview broadcast on what we must refer to as 14 January 11 and published in the daily press, one by the Ministry of Public Order and the other by the investigative group. In both of these notices, there are false references regarding the killing on 14 January 1994 in the city of Shkodër of Qorvan Qevini? I have truly reflected on the content of the above notices and have legal observations. On the statement of the Ministry of Order It is known that the regular functions of these debates exist, but we will focus only on one issue, namely duties and competence, and specifically in the case of conducting investigative actions. For this, in one of the criminal acts, by way of judgment, Article 14 of Law 7574 dated 24.6.1992 "On the organs of the order police" and certain changes in the civil criminal procedure codes are reformulated, where it is stated: "For obvious criminal acts (at the scene), the police organs inform the prosecutor, collect and preserve traces and evidence, carry out other investigative actions that cannot be postponed, detain suspected persons and within two days send the case to the prosecutor's office." It is not the object of this article, nor is it appropriate for us to make subjective assessments regarding these legal requirements, but the issue that concerns us is the police organs (or, as far as the prosecutor is concerned) and further developments. Let us draw attention to the fact that, according to the Ministry of Order, in addition to everything else it is said that: "the murder was committed in the heat of an argument and was carried out with an old-type weapon." Broadly speaking, police organs, when making statements of a legal nature that are beyond the exclusive competence of the prosecutor, investigator, and judge, should not publicly pronounce on whether the murder was committed or not in the heat of a quarrel, because in this way they indirectly also express themselves on the legal qualification of the offense committed, whether the murder was committed with an old-type weapon or as a weapon. The conclusion "that the experts or the 'plate' unit and in the police organs" in Article 25 of the Code of Criminal Procedure states that "When the person...". (To be continued on page 2)

Visas are expected to be abolished with the Sultanate of Brunei Albanian citizens surely breathed a sigh of relief when they saw on TV the President of the Republic announcing that he was stepping onto the plane to begin his journey to the other side of the world, to Malaysia and then to Brunei. There, they thought not only of the great effort required to get there, but also of the tickets and of remembering the long names of the glorious sultans of the two countries. The President's announcement in an interview also gave hope. Albanians do not expect the great Sultan of Brunei to open his money bag full of dollars. They expect more. Surely, after visas for Albanian citizens are abolished, and after double taxation is abolished as well, they will go to Malaysia, and certainly with Brunei too. As you know, this visit, with Brunei, would be a great relief for Albanian citizens isolated for fifteen years in a row. The abolition of visas with Brunei would open all the doors, and the abolition of visas in Malaysia too. If this miracle were to happen, then what would remain to us is Western imperialism, which is closing the doors of embassies to us. Take, for example, Italy, Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, England, Sweden, America, etc., which create all kinds of obstacles to visas for Albanian citizens. Albanians would travel visa-free for work and tourism to Malaysia and Brunei, these two wonderful countries of God. And all this achievement in just two years of PD government. Correspondent of "Zëri i Popullit"

A village chief closes the Milot nursery and kindergarten The nursery and kindergarten of the city of Milot, which were located in a new building in the city, were functioning normally two years ago. We say were functioning because now they no longer do. This is because this building has been forcibly occupied by the village chief of the village of Mal. of Milot? Q. Allan Shabani, who was granted the permission to keep the children at home and by "confining" their mothers. The occupation of this building by this village chief, who has been placed in the role not of a spokesperson by the people for reasons of a minor nature and of those old causes that some former owners often invoke with the pretext that "this land is mine", does not stand in this case. The site on which this building stands has been listed as state land. In this building, where the nursery and kindergarten had been located, there is now installed a... (To be continued on page 3)