FATOS NANO DECLARES: “I will not fall into your schemes and I will not become an accomplice with you... I ask, and will continue to firmly ask, that you create the legal possibility for me to speak...” The “Nano” case at the center of public attention Tirana remains full of police while the indictment of dervish and Qeleshi is completely legally untenable. Judge Bendo in the role of prosecutor.

FATOS NANO declares at the first hearing Yesterday, in cooperation with the Italian agency “Adn-Kronos”, the full text of Mr. Fatos Nano’s statement at the first procedural hearing of the trial against him reached our editorial office. We are publishing this statement without changing anything, because we considered it a document of value for the readers of “Zëri i Popullit”. We are publishing the final part of this text on page four. (continued on page 4)

Yesterday at midday, the Leadership of the Socialist Party of Albania organized a press conference, where its secretary for public relations, Mr. Arben Malaj, made known the statement approved by this forum regarding the situation created after the political arrest of Mr. Fatos Nano. At the seventh plenum of the Central Committee of the Socialist Party, the issue related to sending two PS members to court was discussed, and that was all. Yet they have turned the issue into one of an anti-democratic and anti-national scale. Mr. Nano has committed no legal violation. The prosecution side is well aware that it cannot win this trial with evidence. This is also the reason why the charge has been changed several times and the hearing was closed behind closed doors. Instead of a legal recess, in a normal trial Mr. Nano would be granted all the rights of defense in order to bring the truth into the open. The “Nano case” has nothing to do with the so-called “legal violations” because if that were so, then this matter should involve other people with more serious responsibility. The “Nano case” is such because Mr. Nano represents a powerful political force, the parliamentary opposition, and he himself has been its chairman. This is also confirmed by the head of the Democratic Party, Mr. Berisha, when he declares that Fatos Nano is his political opponent. Therefore, the “Nano case” is being treated as a political matter, with the aim of removing Mr. Nano from the game, and indirectly the PS itself. In this way they seek to destroy the parliamentary opposition, which is extremely dangerous for Albanian democracy. The “successful completion of the Nano trial,” as Mr. Berisha declares, would be a failure of Albanian democracy. Referring to statements by senior state officials, the accusations against Mr. Nano are ridiculous. It is enough to recall the statement of the Chairman of the Court of Cassation, Mr. Vangjel Meksi, who has described the “Nano case” as a political problem, thus denying the independence of the judiciary. If Mr. Nano were being punished for violating the law, then the president himself would not be involved in this process. In the report presented to the Plenum of the Central Committee of PPSH, Mr. Berisha personally accuses Mr. Fatos Nano, and precisely these accusations have become the backbone of the political process, which Mr. Nano has considered absurd. One gets the impression that Mr. Berisha expects the political superior to issue the decision first and only then the court. (continued on page 4)

The reason for the intensification of the government’s efforts to justify the actions of the justice authorities against Mr. Fatos Nano has become clear to the entire public opinion, especially to the members and sympathizers of the Socialist Party, as well as to supporters of the right-wing forces who are skeptical. The political arrest of Mr. Nano and the rapid closing of the trial against him, without the right to speak, were not accidental, but products of an anti-democratic climate and an increasingly aggressive anti-Albanian stance. The arbitrary actions, hostile to Mr. Nano and the Socialist Party, show that every facade has been discarded in order to return to political reprisals, according to outdated Stalinist practices. The zealous defense of the unlawfulness of the actions of the justice authorities by Mr. Berisha himself has, from the very beginning, been one of the clearest signals of the political character of the “Nano case,” and has completely torn away the false curtain of the “independence of justice.” As Mr. Berisha himself asserts, Fatos Nano is supposedly his political opponent. Consequently, Berisha’s actions, those of the government and the justice authorities controlled by it, express the anti-democratic character of the trial against Mr. Nano more than the prosecution’s tendency to raise temporary theses against him. We strongly protest against these arbitrary actions and demand: 1. That Mr. Fatos Nano’s request for a fair and public trial be accepted. 2. That the proceedings, conducted without respect for the most elementary norms of trial, be suspended until the defense is given the opportunity to exercise its constitutional and legal rights. 3. That threatening statements, pressure, and any other arbitrary and anti-democratic action against members, sympathizers, and supporters of the parliamentary opposition be stopped. (continued on page 4)

FATOS NANO declares at the sixth hearing Having come here today to this hearing, I do not intend to waste another minute with these pseudo-discussions, with this farce that is taking place, which not only seriously violates constitutional legality, but also guarantees none of the minimum conditions for an impartial trial. I ask the court to put an end to this disgraceful masquerade unworthy of a normal state. (continued on page 4)

Sokrat Plaka declares in the courtroom: In the answers given by Mr. Plaka, he tries to highlight that the punishment of Fatos Nano is not the result of facts, but of a political order. He describes the way in which the trial was conducted and the closing of the discussions without giving the defense the floor. In the text published here in shortened version, the procedural violations and the climate of political pressure are made evident. (continued on page 4)

ALTHOUGH FATOS NANO DOES NOT TAKE PART IN THE PROCESS, THE TRIAL WAS IN HIS FAVOR - Prosecutors Buliqi and Qelejshi sent everyone a bitter message that the Ministry of Justice in Albania is at risk of turning into an institution that serves politics. - The accusations cannot withstand the test of the facts. - The Fatos Nano case could turn into a pan-European case. - The Fatos Nano trial could negatively influence the country’s democratic development. - Bule, it is time for a human and diplomatic gesture toward Mr. Fatos Nano. - On Monday the trial against 7 nearby residents [?] begins. (Continues on page 6)

FATOS NANO ONCE AGAIN ASKS TO RECEIVE AGIM BENDO’S HELP SO THAT HE MAY BE FREED FROM THE HANDCUFFS OF THE LEADERSHIP AND MAKE A PHONE CALL

The government decided to create a new process starting from 7 March 1994 So far, under the pressure of the trial, hundreds of letters have reached the newspaper. We have published some of them, and in the future we will continue with them.