WHY IS FATOS NANO ACCUSED? So far, only those who hold power know
The accusation takes a devastating blow: from the questioning of the witnesses, it is impossible to understand why Fatos Nano and the others are accused
NOW EVERYONE IS CONVINCED THAT THIS CASE IS POLITICAL
Ramiz Alia thanks the Italian government for its assistance and emphasizes that this was a measure that saved the country from bloodshed. Judge Bendo interrupts him when he also thanks the Turkish and Greek governments.
The accusation takes a devastating blow: from the questioning of the witnesses, it is impossible to understand why Fatos Nano and the others are accused
WHY IS FATOS NANO ACCUSED? So far, only those who hold power know
NOW EVERYONE IS CONVINCED THAT THIS CASE IS POLITICAL
Ramiz Alia thanks the Italian government for its assistance and emphasizes that this was a measure that saved the country from bloodshed. Judge Bendo interrupts him when he also thanks the Turkish and Greek governments.
Yesterday’s hearing continued with the questioning of witnesses. After verifying the witnesses present, the presiding judge, Agim Bendo, gave the floor to Ridvan Qarri.
He was a prosecution witness and an employee of the State Control Service, and a member of that institution’s working group on emergency aid.
Ridvan Qarri, specially protected by Bendo
Ridvan Qarri’s testimony aroused not only interest among everyone present and their lawyers, but also a kind of indignation, which was readily apparent in the many questions asked about the way they were being treated. The irony of questions about the witness’s actual profession and precise job title was also inappropriate. Meanwhile, a particularly striking display of judicial power by the presiding judge, Mr. Agim Bendo, was also observed. On this occasion, he twice imposed a penalty on lawyers, including Robert Gjini’s lawyer, and also had a lengthy dispute with Sokrat Plaka’s lawyer. For the umpteenth time, he intervened in the questions put to the accused and instructed the witness on what he should say and how he should say it. It is well known that Judge Bendo, as well as the court spokesperson whom he leads, appear on television programs broadcast by satellite, even on days when only legal professionals are involved. Now, apparently, it is the turn of the other lawyers—or anyone who dares to intervene in the testimony of state witnesses.
Ridvan Qarri, an illustration of the prosecution’s misery
We are not referring only to the witness’s woebegone appearance, but more to the substance of his words. He began repeating, like a wound-up mechanism, the report Blerim Cela delivered to the People’s Assembly, a report on which the prosecution has relied entirely. It should ... ... the valuation of the goods received. Besides this, Ridvan Qarri was unable to answer several questions from Robert Gjini and the lawyers, and played the ignorant, repeating only fragments of Blerim Çela’s report. He did not know how to distinguish whether 10 mi...
It was emphasized that, despite Agim Be[?]kus’s interventions, it was clear that the witness had needed no small amount of work to present all of Blerim Çela’s material for two hours and twenty minutes. Listeners murmured that if the witness had spent this time on more useful work, he would surely have mastered a foreign language. To questions from the lawyers and the accused concerning lists of goods, changes in their composition, the prices of the goods, and so on, he replied simply and naively that the State Control Service had not been able to verify or clarify them. His naïve logic went so far as to calculate the difference in the price of goods by comparing their price in Italy with their price in Albania. He admitted that he had not seen the bank benefits/payment records for the payments; as for the value of 30 million lire, he did not know where this figure had come from or what calculations had been made to arrive at it. “I think every payment,” he said, “was made on the basis of declarations and not authentic documents proving the accuracy of the actual transactions settling the value and played the incapable, repeating only fragments of Blerim Çela’s report. He could not tell whether 10 million was aid or a loan, or what was meant by the inclusion of transport costs and loading, unloading, and processing expenses, creating confusion and laughter in the courtroom. His explanations were inaccurate also regarding the arrival of goods, especially rice and powdered milk, and prosecutor Qelshi came to his aid on these points. When the defendant Robert Gjini asked him on what basis the criminal charges against him had been filed, Ridva[r] Qarri replied vaguely that, based on the documents held by the State Control Service, there had been no grounds for criminal prosecution; it was the former investigative authorities who had put them in the dock.
If Mr. Nano had spoken at this hearing, he would surely have thanked the witness Qarri, not only because it was confirmed that the accusation relied entirely on Blerim Çela’s report, but also because Qarri did not have the courage directly to mention Fatos Nano’s name once again as guilty. Finally, Mr. Qarri should be thanked because his testimony did nothing other than reveal the scenario behind the prosecution’s ... and its political prejudice.
... the valuation of the goods received and the exact benefit to the witnesses. But a particular kind of ... on this occasion he penalized lawyers twice, including Robert Gjini’s lawyer, and had a lengthy dispute.
Shane Korbeci states that he received no orders or instructions from Fatos Nano
After Ridvan Qarri, former Minister of Trade and Cooperation with Foreign Countries Shane Korbeci was called into the courtroom. His testimony was awaited with interest, since his name and the ministry he headed had been widely discussed, especially by the official press, which had made allegations about the signatures of trade bodies under his authority and the use of questionable companies, particularly Ilirja Holding. Witness Shane Korbeci clearly emphasized that he and the ministry he headed had been directly involved in emergency aid, both in drawing up lists of emergency goods and in preparing the draft note to be sent through Albania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The note confirmed the composition and quantities of the goods and, at the same time, the response that the company supplying the goods to Albania would be Levante Co. “I requested,” Shane Korbeci emphasized, “that the Agroexport enterprise be the coordinator of aid in Albania, but this does not mean that Albk[?]pi, as an enterprise of the Ministry of Internal Trade, was not a foreign-trade enterprise. Thus, in the delivery of the first trade aid, I, as Minister of Trade and Cooperation with Foreign Countries, together with the enterprises under my authority, contributed as requested, and I do not accuse Prime Minister Nano at all of sidelining this body.”
Shkëlqim Guni relies only on his notes
In his testimony, Shkëlqim Gani referred entirely to all the letters and official documents which, as he had also stated in ... (Continued on page 2)
... a member of parliament by profession, was in fact ... In his interview, Mr. Berisha called the Socialist Party of Albania “our enemies.” The term “enemy” has no place for the opposition in a genuinely democratic society. This term, used by Berisha in his interview a few days ago, shows at the very least that his statements about the opposition are deeply contradictory. Worse still, the head of the Albanian state casts doubt on his standing as a representative of the unity of the nation. I would say that this statement could be admitted as evidence of the character and political prejudice behind the activities of the Socialist Party of Tirana and, in particular, in the proceedings against its chairman, Fatos Nano. The persecution of the chairman of the Socialist Party can thus be interpreted as part of the struggle against ...
First, the Albanian head of state’s mistaken conception of the opposition. In his interview, Mr. Berisha calls part of the struggle against ...
True justice has no need for symbolism. True justice is simply justice. The use of the expression “symbolic justice” shows that justice is in fact ... and leads us to believe that the outcome of the Nano case is predetermined on the basis of a political decision. The second element that stands out in Berisha’s statements is his conception of the proceedings conducted in Albania during the post-dictatorship period. According to President Berisha, “We ... decided not to carry out purges, as in other countries.” (Continued on page 3)