Lawyer Sanxhaku presents new, indisputable evidence proving that the Italian aid arrived in Albania in full and that Fatos Nano is innocent The court agrees to place it on the case file Yesterday: Fatos Nano, at the Court of Appeal, again denounced the political persecution of the opposition and presented evidence of his complete innocence. THE “NANO FILE” IS PRESENT AND OPEN ON THE TABLES OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND CHANCELLERIES IN EUROPE AND THE USA THAT MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF DEMOCRATIC PROCESSES IN ALBANIA — FATOS NANO’S STATEMENT AT THE COURT OF APPEAL — — I come to the Court of Appeal after being convicted without a single fact by the trial court. — I come to the Court of Appeal as a citizen, as a member of parliament, as opposition leader and political opponent of the regime. — I come to the Court of Appeal to cooperate in the aim of freeing justice from these shackles, alavike, so that all together we may emerge better and stronger from this vicious circle of settling blind scores, the dead fighting the living.

Yesterday at 9:00 a.m., in one of the courtrooms of the Court of Appeal, under the direction of the president of this court, Mr. Prele Martini, and his assistants Koço Mano and Mërgim Dragusha, the trial began to examine the appe- Yesterday at 9:00 a.m., in one of the courtrooms of the Court of Appeal, under the direction of the president of this court, Mr. Prele Martini, and his assistants Koço Mano and Mërgim Dragusha, the trial began to examine the appeal filed against the decision of the trial court (the Tirana Court) by the Chairman of the Socialist Party and member of the People’s Assembly, Fatos Nano, who was unlawfully and arbitrarily arrested 10 months ago by the Berisha regime and sentenced by the same regime to 12 years’ imprisonment, as well as by Robert Gjini and Hasan Halko, sentenced to 3 and 1 years’ imprisonment respectively, in the presence of their lawyers and the court of first instance, seeking once again the acquittal that had been unjustly denied them. Hasan Halko, who is being treated in the prison hospital because of his deteriorating health, had authorized his lawyer Fatmir Braka to represent him at the trial, also emphasizing the lack of foundation and falsity of the charge and the sentence. After hearing the arguments and evidence of those sentenced by the Berisha regime and their lawyers, the judicial panel asked to hear the preliminary requests. Lawyer Sanxhaku requested that several witnesses be questioned again, such as Sha- k Korbedi, Ridvan Qarri, Gavrosh Pogace, Paskal Fili, Gjergj Goka Pasko Filjari, Genc Gjoka, Dritan Selo, Aleksandra Çollaku, Adil Çarçani, and others. He also requested that the prosecution’s telegram-related expert reports, Skrëli, and those prepared by the Italian party’s experts be examined at the hearing; that the Milan price bulletin on which the calculations were based, the records, telegrams and petitions—numbering in the hundreds—calling for Fatos Nano’s release and constituting a separate file, etc., also be admitted. Meanwhile, Prosecutor Duka said he opposed questioning the witnesses again and opposed re-examining at the hearing the materials in the case file, which is missing more than 500 pages! By an interlocutory decision, the judicial panel rejected the request to question some witnesses again, while deciding to add to the file the many materials submitted by lawyer Sanxhaku that are not in the file received from the trial court, and to examine the objectivity of the investigative and court-file materials. That concluded yesterday’s proceedings. The next hearing opens today at 9:00 a.m. with the prosecutor’s address, followed by the defendants and their lawyers once again. Correspondent of “Zëri i Popullit” as years’ imprisonment respectively, in the presence of the lawyers and the prosecutor bringing the charge, Petrit Duka. First, Mr. Koco Mano, introduced as the rapporteur of the case, read the decision of the trial court signed by Agim Bendo and his two assistants. Then lawyer Përparim Sanxhaku took the floor and, in more than 70 pages, set out all the serious procedural violations and the numerous facts that shed light not only on Fatos Nano’s innocence, but also on the shameful manipulations, machinations and falsifications carried out by the prosecution and the judicial panel. Next, People’s Assembly, Fatos Nano, took the floor and once again expressed his position regarding the false charge and the judges’ unlawful actions against him. But we must point out that his statement was interrupted several times by noisy interjections from Chairman Rëpeli, who even warned Fatos Nano that he would take away his right to speak if he continued to engage in politics from the deputy’s prison dock and if he mentioned the honorable President Berisha by name! Robert Gjini and lawyer Roland Përmeti also denounced the numerous legal and procedural violations committed by the investigative and prosecutorial authorities and the his sentence of procedural law and the manipulation of evidence. Mr. President, briefly, unjust…

— without a single fact by the trial court. — opponent of the regime. — freeing justice from these alavike shackles, from this vicious circle of blind score-settling, the dead fighting the living. Mr. President of the Court of Appeal of the Republic of Albania, Gentlemen, From an institutional and legal point of view, the Court you preside over has a special, indeed extraordinary, role and importance in a civil society: not merely to dispense justice, but to correct injustice by defending the law and Human Rights. I am Fatos Nano—a parent of two children and a family member of two veteran anti-fascist parents, chairman of the Socialist Party of Albania, the principal force of the opposition, a member of the People’s Assembly elected in Kuçovë, former prime minister of the first post-communist transitional government in Albania, a citizen of our Republic politically persecuted by the present regime. Of course, I am neither naive nor an idealist who fails to understand that this institution too, you yourselves and the other representatives of the law who are paid here, like me, are Albanian; you are part of this Albanian transition, and we, like everything else that shapes our common fate, are today subject to its influence and its distortions; today we experience the shortcomings and unjust distortions of the totalitarian past we inherited, as well as the mistakes and present-day autocratic fever of the struggle for power, an important victim of which you are judging today. Therefore, while inclined to believe in advance that you have made honest professional and legal efforts to acquaint yourselves with and assess the file—which has not yet been handed to me—and the dimensions assumed by the “Nano Case,” I consider it necessary to clarify from the outset that: without a single fact by the trial court; after being arrested without any legal warrant from the prosecutor and without any breach of duty that could ever have amounted to a full, objective and comprehensive investigation under the established rules; and after having been arrested, isolated, tortured and subjected to politically motivated violence without basis for 10 months. I was sentenced on 12 February 1993, and that sentence has been imposed on me continuously since then; more than 3 years have passed, and I was sentenced to 10 years in prison, yet I still have not left prison. opponent of the regime, which you, judges and prosecutors, head. Perhaps you do not realize how scandalous this is, not only within the court but throughout the entire state: after the shackles, real and false, one of the greatest tragedies of our nation, and also a testament to our past, with all its suffering, persecution, shackles, torture, destruction and crimes committed against human rights and freedoms. (…) In chronological terms. Being, I repeat, inclined to believe that you have studied the file thoroughly—because it itself is the fullest proof of my innocence and of the substance of the case—I consider it necessary to recall publicly that the “Nano File,” now fully present and open on the tables of numerous international organizations and chancellery offices in Europe and the USA, which address the progress of democratic processes and the state of human rights in Albania and make decisions vital to the fate of all Albanians, not merely that of the opposition leader or the head of state, is now on whose table have accumulated and await a response to “a positive turn in this case.” There is no need for the result of the European Parliament, the presidents and Council of Europe of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the appeals of G. 24, the Council of Foreign Ministers and that of Finance of the European Union, which are blocking funding to Albania, to be publicly hushed up any longer, right through to the latest communications from the State Department, the White House, etc. These are the dimensions, Mr. President, of the importance of today’s appeal—not because “the world protects crime” (as one of your colleagues puts it, using Enver Hoxha’s bunker mentality, claiming that “it does not allow changes in the internal affairs of its directed justice”), but because I am innocent and neither Albanians nor the democratic world accept political crime after the fall of communism. Since I am innocent, Mr. President, I am ready to cooperate to save Mr. Berisha from the sin of usurping your powers and announcing decisions against me and the Albanian opposition and “enemy opposition” in airport halls or in the foreign press, thereby causing the black clouds of Albania’s and the Albanians’ isolation to gather ominously. If he does not withdraw honorably, rather than through shameful manipulations as he did with journalists—which will not work with me—Mr. Berisha knows full well that early elections are unavoidable, but if we are to say that the PD in Albania has great importance. Why am I innocent? What is the truth about the Italian aid handled by the Nano Government, and where does the distortion lie? Mr. President, Honorable judges, The government I agreed to lead in the civil ... from 22 February to 4 June ’91, at the head of a team of young, leading and energetic experts, began work in difficult conditions: it was a destroyed state, with public order and ... by those who were irresponsibly and speculatively ... by local militants or saboteurs… [At the bottom of the column, cut off:] (Continued on page 2) Below photo: FATOS NANO, CHAIRMAN OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY, IN THE COURTROOM In the photo: FATOS NANO, CHAIRMAN OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY, IN THE COURTROOM

Honorable Mr. President, honorable judges of the Court of Appeal of the Republic, The examination of the criminal case by you gives us reason to believe that the outcome will reflect an objective and comprehensive analysis of the evidence. With patience, composure and a high level of professionalism, you will reach a conclusion regarding Decision No. 266, dated 3.4.1994, of the Tirana District Court, Decision No. 2443, under which Fatos Nano was found guilty of misappropriating state property through major actions: by abusing his office and in favor of third parties, in the amount of 72,073,000 lekë, and under Article 02 of the Criminal Code; he was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment. Fatos Nano was also found guilty of falsifying official documents under Article 110 of the Criminal Code and sentenced to 3 years’ imprisonment. Combining the sentences pursuant to Article 35 of the Criminal Code, and applying the system of increasing the sentence, Fatos Nano was ultimately sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment for both offenses. This decision was issued as unjust. The decision of the trial court is not the result of an objective and comprehensive investigation and trial of the case, but rather stems from serious violations of substantive and procedural law and the manipulation of evidence. Mr. President, in brief, I will set out why the investigation and trial are unjust… (Continued on page 3)

Some representatives of the DP went to a village. And they imagined themselves with quite a big armchair and quite a big position. Ministers and even higher. They went to tell the villagers to vote for the DP. “We,” they said, “will bring you aid with the army’s ‘IFAT’; we’ll bring you satellite programs, chemical fertilizer, asphalt, water, and we’ll build you a bridge too…” “A bridge?!” the villagers said. “But we don’t have a river.” “We’ll bring you a river too,” the delegates said. Tomorrow you will read a special page about the elections in these municipalities.