FULL SOLIDARITY WITH OUR COMRADES BEHIND BARS For the attention of: Aleksandër Meksi, Prime Minister; Sali Berisha, President of the Republic; Pjetër Arbnori, Speaker of the People’s Assembly; Alush Dragoshi, Prosecutor General; Director of the Tirana District Prosecutor’s Office; Mr. Arben Qeleshi, Chief Prosecutor For the attention of: Aleksandër Meksi, Prime Minister, Sali Berisha, President of the Republic, Pjetër Arbnori, Speaker of the People’s Assembly Alush Dragoshi, Prosecutor General Addressed to the Tirana District Prosecutor’s Office Mr. Arben Qeleshi, Chief Prosecutor Dear Sirs, The Association of Professional Journalists of Albania, meeting today in an urgent session, vigorously protests against the unnecessary arrest and imprisonment on January 31, 1994, of the Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper «Koha Jonë», Aleksandër Frangaj, who is also a member of the Association’s board, as well as «Koha Jonë» journalist Martin Leka. Accused and imprisoned without trial for disclosing a secret and for defamation, our colleagues Frangaj and Leka are today victims not only of the deep contradictions in our legislation, on which new and old provisions that are normally incompatible are based, but also of the escalating retaliation by the authorities against the free press—a retaliation that for two years has targeted only free newspapers, only opposition newspapers, despite the fact that, unfortunately, excesses in the Albanian press span the entire spectrum. After contacting those who formulated the accusation, examining the article that led to the imprisonment of our two colleagues, and consulting the Press Law and the Constitutional Provisions, our Association concludes: 1 - Editor-in-Chief Aleksandër Frangaj, by reading and publishing an article by journalist Martin Leka about the disarming of officers and non-commissioned officers, and by also publishing a facsimile of the relevant order of the Minister of Defense, has violated none of the articles of the Press Law and none of the other provisions that prescribe sanctions, except perhaps some phantom provision of the old Penal Code from the dictatorship period—a provision that has been de facto repealed for three years, since the free press came into being in Albania. Furthermore, the provision on protecting secrets in the old Penal Code has nothing whatsoever to do with the press, which at that time was entirely controlled. As for Article 25 of the Military Statute, it merely draws attention to the need to consult the provisions on state secrets, but prescribes no sanctions. Moreover, as regards the print press, this article appears to have been repealed by the final article of the Press Law, which states verbatim that «all previous provisions that conflict with this law are repealed». 2 - Although there is no clear and rigorous definition of what constitutes «clearly secret», the order of the Minister of Defense, implemented for a large number of people in military uniform, cannot be considered secret. Something known within a single day to thousands upon thousands of people is no longer a state secret. 3 - Journalist Martin Leka, having learned of the Minister of Defense’s order and expressed his critical opinion about an order requiring officers to leave their personal pistols at their units, acted in accordance with the constitutional provisions and the Press Law, which guarantee freedom of expression and freedom of the press as among the greatest and inalienable achievements of democracy in Albania. Our colleague Martin Leka wrote about a true fact and therefore cannot be accused of defamation, notwithstanding any degree of exaggeration in the headline of his article, which certainly does not constitute a criminal offense. Under these circumstances, finding no a- (Continued on page 4) and for libel, colleagues Frangaj and [not] have violated any of the articles on state secrets, weapons… … of the State as well as with the CIA to confirm such a piece of news. But

- BBC radio report - The planes will use an Albanian base near the Adriatic, after first being turned down by Italy. Italian Defense Minister Fabio Fabri confirmed this today, saying that «this is for technical, not political, reasons». For more details, let us hear the prepared report. The Cold War is finally over. As reported today by the largest American newspaper, «International Herald tribune», the Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA, as it is otherwise known, will use Albania—once the most isolated and xenophobic country, a symbol embodying the Iron Curtain—as a base for spy planes to monitor the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. These are unmanned aircraft called «Gnat», with an operating range of about 800 kilometers. This type of aircraft was designed to observe regional conflicts. The system to be deployed in Albania, along with a satellite antenna, costs about 10 million dollars. This system is less sophisticated than photographic satellites, which cost about one billion dollars. The equipment, which will be used to obtain images of the battles and the movement of troops in Bosnia-Herzegovina, will be sent to a military base on the Adriatic coast this winter. The name of the base to be used has not been specified. The «Gnat» aircraft is about five meters long and can fly over battlefields for up to 24 hours. A dome-shaped device containing an electro-optical sensor for capturing images of the war is installed at the aircraft’s underside. The images will then be sent to the satellite antenna for transmission to Washington. Today I contacted officials at the Pentagon, the U.S. State Department, and the CIA to confirm this news. But their response was: «no comment»; in other words, they chose not to speak. Meanwhile, there has so far been no official announcement of this plan in Albania. According to the American newspaper «Herale tribune», the CIA requested permission from Albania to use its territory for this espionage operation, after Italy, a NATO member, had earlier refused to allow the mission. Italian Defense Minister Fabio Fabri, at a press conference held in Rome today specifically on this issue, confirmed that Italy had rejected these aircraft for technical, not political, reasons. The Italian defense minister rejected accusations made in Pentagon circles that Italy lacked a spirit of cooperation, and reminded them that Italy had made the bases at Ankona, Rimi and balkanorat available to NATO and the U.S. to enforce the embargo in operations against the former Yugoslavia. According to Mr. Fabri, these are the technical reasons for rejecting the aircraft, which, as is known, subsequently ended up in Albania. First, these remotely controlled aircraft pose a serious risk to air traffic, and the likelihood of their causing incidents is very high. Second, there are no Italian or international regulations governing how they should fly, which would create extraordinary operational difficulties for the sector. Third, according to Mr. Fabri, even in the event of a malfunction or an explosion in the air, these types of aircraft are very dangerous to the civilian population. To this last justification by the Italian defense minister, one of the journalists present added a pointed, mocking remark, saying: «Then it follows that the Albanians who accepted these planes must have harder heads than the Italians.» BBC, January 31, 1994

Federata Ndërkombëtare e Gazeta-rëve në emër të më shumë se

On February 1, 1994, a commemorative jubilee marking the 50th anniversary of the death of People’s Hero Vasil Shanto was held in the hall of the National History Museum. Patriots and veteran participants in the National Liberation War attended the meeting, along with representatives of political parties and associations from Shkodër and Peza, comrades-in-arms of the hero. Also present were members of the People’s Assembly, Piro Dodbiba, Chairman of the National Committee of Veterans of the National Liberation War, members of the family, and representatives of the Ministry of Defense. The meeting was opened with a short speech by Qazim Kapisyzi, Deputy Liberation War, who then gave the floor to Dr. Ciril Pistoli. The speaker discussed the hero’s political and military contribution and activity; from the very beginning of the antifascist movement, he became and remained a distinguished organizer and fighter in the National Liberation War. Those present paid their respects and laid wreaths at the hero’s grave. ANDON KOTE

TO PRIME MINISTER ALEKSANDER MEKSI FROM AJDAN WAJT, SECRETARY GENERAL The International Federation of Journalists, on behalf of more than 320,000 journalists worldwide, strongly protests the arrest of Aleksandër Frangaj and Martin Leka on January 31, 1994. 320,000 journalists worldwide, strongly protests the arrest of Aleksandër Frangaj and Martin Leka on January 31, 1994. The International Federation of Journalists is a confederation of journalists’ trade unions independent of all ideological, political, and religious organizations, dealing with matters closely related to the practice of journalism while respecting and defending freedom of information, media freedom, and the independence of journalists. According to our information, the «Koha Jonë» journalists may each be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison for publishing an order issued by the Minister of Defense, Safet Zhulali, which prohibited soldiers from keeping their weapons outside the barracks. Under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, it is the duty of journalists to gather and disseminate information. Journalists are not police officers or army officers, and therefore they cannot be punished for publishing—even sensitive—news that is in the public interest. It is also questionable whether the information published by «Koha Jonë» constitutes a clear and present danger to the security of the Albanian state. In these circumstances, the International Federation of Journalists calls on you and your government to reconsider the decision and release the two journalists, whose arrest is unjustified. Yours sincerely, AJDAN WAJT Secretary General Copies to: HIS EXCELLENCY Sali Berisha, President of Albania The President of the European Parliament The Council of Europe The International Freedom of Expression Community, including: Article 19, London. Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, Toronto. Committee to Protect Journalists, New York. Foundation for Free Expression, New York. Index on Censorship, London. International PEN, London. American PEN, London. Reporters Without Borders, Montpellier. Reporters Without Borders, Barcelona. West African Journalists Association, Dakar.

For the attention of Sali Berisha, President of the Republic of Albania. Mr. President, To the attention of Sali Berisha, President of the Republic of Albania Mr. President, Reporters Without Borders, an independent organization defending press freedom around the world, raises its strong protest against the arrest. On Monday, January 31, two journalists from the daily newspaper «Koha Jonë» were arrested. According to the information available to us, on the morning of January 31, the editor-in-chief of Koha Jonë, Aleksandër Frangaj, was arrested at the newspaper’s editorial office and then taken to Tirana prison. A few hours later, while trying to obtain information from the legal authorities together with several other members of the editorial staff, Martin Leka, a journalist at Koha Jonë, was also arrested. Frangaj has been accused of publishing, on January 21, an order by the Minister of Defense concerning the administration of weapons belonging to Albanian army officers. Leka is also accused of publishing a document. Charged with disclosing state secrets, these two journalists risk prison sentences of up to 10 years for Aleksandër Frangaj and 5 years for Martin Leka. Reporters Without Borders recalls that Aleksandër Frangaj was previously arrested on March 31, 1993, and accused of «spreading false information» concerning the movement of Albanian tanks toward the Yugoslav border (Serbia-Montenegro). He was held under house arrest for 35 days. Our organization is concerned by the excessively broad interpretation of «state secret» in this case. The published information bears no proportion to the severe penalties facing the two journalists. Our organization asks you to use all your influence to secure the release of the two Koha Jonë journalists. Awaiting a reply from you. Please accept, Mr. President, the expression of my highest consideration. ROBERT MENARD, director of Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontieres) Embassy of France in Albania Voice of America - Albanian section BBC - Albanian section Liberation - foreign desk Le Monde - media desk AFP, Reuter Amnesty International Article 1 Canadian Committee for the Protection of Journalists (Continued on page 4)

The evening of January 23 (around 9:00 p.m.) was quite unusual for the residents of the town of Këlcyerë. Several pistol shots over the town’s electrical substation disturbed the residents’ peace. The two brothers Agron Hasani, 19, and Gentian Hasani, 15, together with their brother-in-law from the village of Katundishtë, were breaking the concrete around the pole when they came face to face with a criminal police patrol, which fired a pistol. The three citizens mentioned above tried to escape from the patrol and chose the most possible route, jumping into the Vjosë River. The Vjosë’s powerful current that day carried the brother-in-law of the two children to the other bank, while the other two children were not found. They say they were also seen by Dragoit, but the authorities have still not established anything. Others say that the waves of the Vjosë claimed their lives. The parents of the two children, through «Zëri i popullit», also ask anyone who may know anything about the fate of these two unfortunate boys to inform them. MIGEL TREBËSHINA

More than 6,000 families, or 20,000 people, in the city of Shkodër receive economic assistance. That much, according to official information, is cause for dissatisfaction. Thus, nearly 20 percent of the city’s population has no other source of income. This number is growing by around 200 families every month. This is confirmed by the employees who register these families themselves, not by propaganda, as RD writes. And this increase is explained by these other budgets of the reform in this city, also by the reform, referring somewhere to Shkodër, and by social reform. In this case, there is nothing to be surprised about. According to the facts, if it were considered a success of the reform, then yes, it would be called normal. «Winter 1» ordinary (as RD writes, the colleagues of RD-written).

On Saturday, at around 7 p.m., opposite the bookstore, near «Qemal Stafa» Square in the city of Shkodër, citizen Qamil Çekiçi was shot dead with a firearm. He was putting goods into his sales kiosk. The murder took place just as the lights in this area had gone out. Who committed this murder and why? The designated post of the traffic police officers (in the center of the square) should have enabled the officer on duty to react immediately and stop those who committed this crime. Nevertheless, even though the police at the square and the open police arrived at the scene, they were unable to stop the murderer or murderers from fleeing in an unknown direction, despite the fact that senior officials of the Ministry of Public Order had been in this city for several days to help improve the effectiveness of the police authorities. Thus, in this case too, nobody has yet been apprehended. The main explanation being offered for the murder is a blood feud, since the possible other party includes one son of the victim, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the murder of two citizens a year ago. It is sadly reported that January ended with four people murdered in this district. The tragic monster of fratricidal violence continues to devour lives from our own blood. Correspondent of «Zëri i Popullit»

Repairs to the structures damaged by the storm of November 17, 1992, have still not been completed. With the exception of houses, whose owners received the funds in cash and none of whom is now asking the state for anything else, the other structures are not being repaired on time. In the villages of Velë there were many bridges over streams and brooks that become impassable for people at times. Nevertheless, the state bodies assigned to deal with the damage decided that only one of them should be rebuilt: the Rrajës së Zezë bridge. What about the other bridges? Today, because of this, in Velë you have to be specially trained to cross the waterways. The neighborhoods are separated by streams, where bridges should provide crossings. The school, for example, is located … [illegible] ... Where are the funds? Why have the repairs still not been completed? The residents of Velë have done everything, as has the government, as if everything were finished? A fund of 615393 new lekë was allocated for the construction of the Rrajës së Zezë bridge. The bridge consists of four blocks, with something placed on top of them; this fund has been used up. Everyone who has crossed it knows this. Therefore, they ask that the remainder of this fund be used to build other simple bridges for the villages of Velë. The concern of Velë’s residents has been brought to the Damage Commission and to the chairman of the District Council, but so far nothing has been resolved. Where are the funds for the Rrajës së Zezë bridge?

NATIONAL LIBRARY TIRANA