— The “arrest and imprisonment” of FATOS NANO is a political matter.” For nearly three weeks, Albanian public opinion has been shaken by the grave incident which opposition press outlets and various politicians have labeled a fascist-type political crime. A PAD militant, Gjovalin Çekini, was killed in Shkodër. Let us go back in time, not very far, but six months, to June 18, 1993: in Shkodër, too, another political crime was being prepared, at the center of which was Fatos Nano, though fortunately he avoided it, while during the March 22, 1992 election campaign he was directly targeted twice with dynamite by the PD’s Mafia-style apparatus. But if we go further back, the killings of April 2, 1991 in Shkodër were the prologue to political crimes. It is no coincidence that all the above-mentioned crimes, as well as dozens of other crimes, from the time of the siege of Rozafa through to the killing of Oso Kuka, Çerçiz Topulli, Perlat Rexhepi, Vasil Shanto, etc., took place in Shkodër, Albania’s northern border city, the city of the Albanian nation’s cultural emancipation, a crossroads where many domestic and foreign interests—economic, political, and religious alike—have clashed. “Let us say no to political crime!” is the call that genuine progressive political forces have been making in recent days. The PS, PAD, UNIKOMB, PSD, PBDNJ, etc., are making this appeal forcefully, while the PD has remained silent and close associates of its party and government have been accused of being the masterminds of political crimes and of the mayhem they create. But are these accusations true, and is this conclusion correct? I would say that, in my view, the key to this conclusion, to clarifying it, lies in unraveling the mystery of the political crime of April 2, 1991. The directors and perpetrators of the April 2 killings, still not publicly identified, are at the same time the directors and perpetrators of the later political crimes that have been denounced but remain unsolved. One thing is already clear: the target at which political crime aims—its focus. Genuine democratic forces and progressive elements in the present have been placed in the sights of political crime. In this respect, the most visible, most overt, most exposed case is the imprisonment of Fatos Nano. At present, in reality, Fatos Nano, and through him the Socialist Party, has been placed in the crosshairs of political-crime schemes. His arrest is the most visible part of this focus. But how and why was Fatos Nano arrested? Who imprisoned him, and what is intended by striking at Fatos Nano and the Socialist Party? These questions have long since been answered. It is now hard to find people in Albania who do not understand that Nano is imprisoned in order to eliminate him as a political opponent, that he is being held hostage on banal charges, and that the illegal actions taken against him, as well as against others such as Idajet Beqiri, Ne- (Continued on page 2) The PS, PBDNJ, etc., while the PD has supported its particular party and government leaders—is this conclusion true? Will

Tomorrow you will read: “The Nano Case” in the spotlight of International Forums Decision of the Committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva. At the meeting of the General Steering Committee of the Socialist Party, held in Tirana on February 2, 1994, among other things the vice-chairman of the PSSH, Dr. Luan Hajdaraga, who headed the special delegation that attended the proceedings of the 64th session of the Committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva, where “The Nano Case” held a prominent place, informed those present about the discussion there. Regarding this issue, he gave our editor the following statement: “As our public has been informed, a special delegation of the PSSH was able to take part in whose proceedings took place in Geneva from January 24 to 27 this year. I informed the General Steering Committee about the Geneva meeting; tomorrow, through the newspaper, we will make public the decision it adopted on ‘The Nano Case.’”

Thousands of messages, letters, phone calls, and petitions have arrived at the newspaper “KOHA JONE,” expressing full solidarity with our imprisoned colleagues. They all call for THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF ALEKSANDËR FRANGAJ AND MARTIN LEKES.

— It seems that SHIK employees read only “Zëri i Popullit” — By means of a telegram ending with the phrase “failure to appear will result in being brought in by force, in accordance with the law,” the Tirana district prosecutor’s office yesterday, on 3.2.1994, threatened Thoma Gëllçi, editor-in-chief of “Zëri i Popullit.” During his contact with prosecutor Arison Puka, he was informed that Bashkim Gazidede, head of the National Intelligence Service, had filed a complaint seeking criminal prosecution on the grounds of disclosure of state secrets. The matter concerned the publication in the newspaper “Zëri i Popullit” of a letter from 17 workers at the Kamza radio station on December 21, 1993. According to Bashkim Gazidede, it disclosed a state secret, but he did not specify what that secret was. Editor-in-chief Thoma Gëllçi explained how the editorial office receives, accepts, and publishes petitions from various groups of workers, trade unions, etc., concerning the problems they have with particular state bodies or departments. It was also pointed out that on the same date, December 21, 1993, the same article, with the same title, subtitle, wording, and signatures, had also been published in the newspapers “Koha Jonë” and “Alternativa SD,” and on the 22nd in the newspaper “Aleanca.” It was also made public on the same day by Albanian Radio and Television and by BBC radio, all of which mentioned the same facts and comments as the newspaper “Zëri i Popullit.” It is interesting that, among all these publications, only the one in “Zëri i Popullit” caught Bashkim Gazidede’s attention. This gives the impression that SHIK employees read only this newspaper. This complaint by SHIK seeking criminal prosecution, wholly without foundation, shows that today’s ministers themselves do not understand the rules governing state secrets. It is an attempt to exert pressure and create taboos around the work of those bodies. Following the arrest of Aleksandër Frangaj and Martin Lekes, this complaint is another attempt to pressure the free Albanian press. After Safet Zhulali, another minister of the “organs of dictatorship,” Bashkim Gazidede, seeks to open battles and court cases against newspapers and journalists. Correspondent of “Zëri i Popullit.”

Once again, “RD.” And once again, Edi Paloka, who fortunately today enjoys the privilege of having his name read in 35,000 copies. This time, however, they appear a little different from their usual style. Because the question that always “worries” them is: “What will ‘ZP’ write if Fatos Nano is convicted by the justice system?” Forgive me, dear colleague, but you and all the others like you can be sure that Fatos Nano will never be convicted by the justice system. I know you do not like such a conclusion, but I am obliged to tell you, so that next time you may be a little more reasonable, a little more civil, as your chairman Selami also tried to be in an interview he gave on television after returning from Strasbourg. I believe you noticed. He did not curse, insult, or use the vocabulary you have commonly used before. And rightly so. Such behavior does not become a politician of his stature when carried away by passio- n. Even less so Edi, who knows very well what is beautiful, ugly, sublime, and low. But let us leave aesthetic categories aside, in the hope that the passionate aesthete will know how to cultivate at least a little of his extensive knowledge among you, and return to your question, within which the conditional conjunction “if,” deliberately used to make the question a little “more cultured” than usual, cannot fail to catch one’s attention. You are unhappy that the leaders of the PS continue to put the case of the imprisoned Nano on the agenda at all inter-parliamentary- LUAN M. RAMA. (Continued on page 4)

On Thursday, Parliament discussed and passed the draft law “On Personal Income Tax.” The focus of attention during the questions, discussions, and voting was Article 4 of the draft law, which states: “Income of up to 4,000 lekë per month is exempt from personal income tax.” The Socialist Party parliamentary group asked 14–15 questions. Among them were: “Why was the limit of 4,000 lekë chosen for tax-exempt income? What does this have to do with the minimum subsistence level? How should we understand the statement in the explanatory report that the aim of the submitted draft law is a fairer distribution of the tax burden?” Is the draft law connected to changes in wages, etc.? In response to the above questions and the question about taxation, a specialist assigned to defend the draft law said that one of its aims was to broaden the tax base and increase revenue from the payment of taxes and duties to the state, without neglecting the social aspect. The minimum wage is 24,000 lekë; twice the personal income threshold is 60 percent higher than the minimum wage. We have made the relevant calculations. The draft law as presented is connected to the changes recently made by the government, etc. It is not difficult to see that the calculations sidestep a small matter; besides failing to answer some other questions, they also evade the crux of the discussion: “What connection does the personal income tax floor have with the minimum subsistence level?” Meanwhile, it is pointed out that the personal income tax floor is 60 percent higher than the minimum wage, and, to make the argument more credible, it is emphasized that calculations have been made. There is no doubt that the specialists made the relevant calculations. From the answer, it is not difficult to be convinced that they did. But at the same time, the answer gives the impression that they are questionable, that the link between the minimum subsistence level and the minimum wage is entirely possible, and that the explanation of the case is itself deliberately avoided—namely, why the limit for tax-exempt income was set at that level. (Continued on page 2)

— Excerpt from BBC material, 1. 2. 1994 — The first reaction came from the journalists’ organization “Reporters Without Borders,” based in Montpellier, France, which sent a letter of protest to the President of the Republic of Albania, Mr. Sali Berisha. In the letter, they stated that the imprisonment [text unclear] of many of the world’s major news organizations, among them the BBC, constitutes a grave violation of the broad interpretation of state secrecy. This organization, which defends journalists, is asking the president to use all his powers and influence to secure the release of the two jour- (Continued on page 4)

Large numbers of police officers had blocked all the entrances to the National Historical Museum in the center of Tirana yesterday morning. Local and foreign visitors approaching the building to visit the museum and the exhibitions opened there were turned away from the museum’s entrance by people who gave only one answer: “We have orders not to let anyone inside.” The large police presence suggested that something had happened, while journalists were also barred from entering the museum to obtain information about the incident. Later, a police officer acknowledged that a theft had taken place at the Museum and that the police, as part of their investigation, had blocked off all the museum premises as well as its employees. An unofficial source who claimed to have information from the Museum’s own employees said the theft had taken place during the night, with valuables being stolen. “Large amounts of unique valuables have been stolen, especially works of medieval culture,” he said. Another source stated that the theft had taken place on the day when a person who had stayed inside the museum overnight then carried out the theft and left through the gate opposite the «Tirana» hotel. That gate was found open in the morning, he said. It was impossible to obtain further information yesterday, for the reasons mentioned above. Nevertheless, given the location of this theft in the middle of Tirana, and the great cultural and material value contained in the National Historical Museum, it could become one of the greatest thefts whose perpetrators have not been found. Correspondent of «Zëri i popullit»