Socialists cannot in any way tolerate the violation of the people’s free will and the legislator’s dignity. THE STATE ON THE PATH TO VIOLATING THE LAW - Colonel Hysen Arapi, director of army counterintelligence, and Besnik Selami, head of the army’s SHIK, again on an “inspection” at the Zall-Herr military unit - The Defence Minister’s order to redeploy the troops of this unit by 3 June is violated Irregularities in the elections 1 - In Zall-Herr, a number of soldiers were transferred to that area for the period from 10 May to 1 June. Thus, the law allowing soldiers to vote in the area where they live was not applied, because the soldiers should have arrived at least 15 days before the elections. The voter list had to be published 15 days before the elections. In Zall-Herr it was published only 6 days beforehand (and when it was published, it was undated). The soldiers themselves also told the SHKP escort that they had been told they would leave on 1 June. In addition, these soldiers were seen voting without photographic identification. 2,858 soldiers voted in Zall-Herr, while the number of villagers who voted was 250. The law allows up to 1,000 voters at a polling station, whereas 1,098 voted here. From the statement of the Association for Democratic Culture The army must remain outside manipulation Parliament has legislated that soldiers have a duty to defend the independence of the homeland and the constitutional order. Therefore, in order for the army to remain outside political manipulation, it must be established that the soldiers and officers did not come from Pogradec and Korçë and are not sleeping outdoors in tents on the hills of Zall-Herr in order to vote for the heads of the communes in the villages of this area. It is the duty and honour of the parliamentary defence committee to contact the soldiers and officers of Zall-Herr urgently and report to us whether the two PD deputies entered this unit and held a meeting or not. If they did, this is a serious legal violation committed by these deputies, and in particular the command of this unit must be brought to trial. From the statement of the deputy

Meeting at the PSSH headquarters: In Libofshë, the free vote was violated through state terror Dr. Servet Pëllumbi, deputy chairman of the PS, meets with Christin Engelhardt, the American Democratic Institute’s representative for Albania and head of the Association “For Democratic Culture”. At the beginning of the meeting, which took place yesterday at the PSSH headquarters at the request of representatives of the Association “For Democratic Culture”, Mr. Genti Stroni, the association’s general coordinator, and C. Engelhardt briefed the PS representatives on some information they had published the previous day at a press conference concerning the elections held in five Albanian communes on 29 May. Dr. Servet Pëllumbi began by emphasizing that he considered the meeting useful and appreciated the contributions of the Association for Democratic Culture and the American Democratic Institute’s representative for Albania to fostering genuine democratic values in Albania. Christin Engelhardt asked to hear the PSSH’s opinion on the early elections held on 29 May in the five communes, particularly the elections held in the commune of Libofshë. Dr. Servet Pëllumbi gave a detailed account of the climate in which the partial local elections had taken place and mentioned numerous flagrant cases of election-law violations by those in power, as well as the violation of the free vote on election day. The commune of Libofshë was at the centre of this briefing in particular. “In Libofshë we had an ‘electorate’ that was predominantly pro-socialist and which, in the last two elections, had voted more than 70 percent for the PS. This is why the party in power, unable to win while respecting the rules of democracy, experimented with the use of state violence on an extremely dangerous scale, gravely violating the free will of the voters,” the PSSH deputy chairman emphasized, among other things. The most blatant fact demonstrating that the elections in Libofshë were held under terror and must be annulled as illegal is the fact, now acknowledged by everyone, that 35 percent of the ballot papers are invalid, whereas at all polling stations in four communes the number of legitimate [text unclear] among whom were MP Shqapir Vukaj, deputy speaker of the People’s Assembly, and Namik Dokle, chairman of the socialist parliamentary group, acted under police protection and were directed by public figures of the present-day state, such as the newly appointed prefect in Durrës, Viktor Marjanaj. Regarding the incident involving the MPs, Christin Engelhardt asked for detailed explanations and took notes of everything that was said, including details of the incident in question. The PS representatives expressed their concern about the stance of the official mass media, particularly Radio Tirana and the newspaper of the party in power, RD, which in recent days had manipulated, and continued to manipulate, the Association for Democratic Culture’s statements, especially the fact that Christin Engelhardt had been present in Libofshë. C. Engelhardt said that she had closely followed information published by the Albanian mass media and press, and had asked Radio Tirana’s information department why an interview she had given to the radio’s correspondent on election day in Libofshë had not been broadcast; in it she had highlighted violations that she had personally observed. Dr. Servet Pëllumbi, expressing the PS’s concern about the climate in which the elections had been held, particularly the events in Libofshë, concluded that this was another signal of the great dangers threatening democracy in Albania. Through its parliamentary group, the PSSH has made its demands regarding the events in Libofshë known to the public and will fight with all its strength to prevent any further violation of democracy. Christin Engelhardt and the representatives of the Association for Democratic Culture ... The most flagrant terror and should be annulled as illegal is the information, papers are invalid, whereas in all the other polling stations in four communes the number of invalid ballot papers does not exceed 2 percent. MP Musa Uglini, deputy chair of the Socialist parliamentary group, who was present at the meeting, gave a detailed account of the serious incident involving six Socialist MPs on the morning of May 29 in the village of Agim, in the commune of Libofshë. He emphasized that the thugs who threatened the representatives [continued?] Press and Information Office of the PSSH In the column on the right: these? [partially cut off] The PSSH parliamentary [group?] to the public and will use all democratic means representatives of the Association for Democratic Culture praised the information provided by the PS representatives and said they would use it to prepare a final report on the elections that was as objective as possible. Arta Dabulla, a member of the PSSH Presidium, also attended the meeting.

– Berisha between “what do the socialists want in Shkodër” and “whoever loves you beats you.” – Meksi spreads the aroma of the 29 May deodorant from Libofshë in Parliament. – Arbnori provokes outrageously: “The dream of power is very great. I know, I know.” [Visible text at the top, cut off at the edge:] applied because the soldiers should have arrived a full be published 15 days before the elections. In 25-Herr was published, it was undated). Also—[text continues, cut off] 858 statement of the Association for Democratic Culture [Column above:] these soldiers had been seen voting without two-page photographic identification? [partly illegible] and the officers had not come from Pogradec and Korçë and in any case this had been outdoors, on the hills of Zall-Herr, to vote for the head of the commune for the villages in this area. It is the duty and honour of [Another column above:] so that the army remains outside party manipulation, it must be [text partly illegible] in this particular way for elections that [text partly illegible] must go to trial. From the statement of deputy Perikli Teta Since 29 May, when Albanians took responsibility for their free vote, the voting activists who, as of 29 May, accepted the right to vote freely and agreed to serve as election observers, members of election commissions and chairpersons of central election commissions, the primitive side of Albanian politics has begun to come out into the open. The scorching waves arriving from Libofshë in Fier disrupted the constant temperature balance, especially in the Albanian parliament, by bringing state crime into the open. Socialist MPs who were in Libofshë on Sunday morning became part of the barbaric actions of a group which, in addition to attacking all the FS observers, also threatened independent observers and terrorized the people in [text illegible] polling booths, blocking Parliament from acting and forcing Speaker Arbnori, quite by chance, to close its proceedings. Calls for all those involved in this crime to be punished, from the deputy down to the last criminal, as well as demands for statements from Berisha, Arbnori and Meksi, were met with scandalous provocations by Pjetër Arbnori and Ali Spahia, whose words crossed the space as if in a straight line to the socialist benches and, after their natural transformation, struck them forcefully in the face: “Murderers, criminals, your hands are covered in blood.” But that was not all. Meksi, forced by the “heat” [Continued on page 2]

Pressure, violence and terror accompanied the entire election campaign. - Through electoral corruption, anti-democracy and anti-Albanianism, the PD extorted the vote of the poor, unemployed, hopeless and miserable people of Reç. During the election campaign, Reç saw as many senior government and party officials as it had not seen altogether in 100 years. To deceive those poor and hungry people is a sin and madness. A person from Reç lives on 200 m2 of arid land per capita. There, even the land is not really land. There are more stones and wasteland than farmland, forests and pastures. Nevertheless, people live there through immense hardship and sacrifice. There is life there, as life can be lived in Reç today. And the election for the head of the Commune was held there on 29 May. An electorate amid tensions, in a harsh and medieval climate of [Continued on page 2]

Relations between the European Community and Albania will not be cut off or quickly normalized, and aid amounting to 35 million ECU will not be suspended at the ECOFIN meeting, Greek Minister for European Affairs Teodoros Pangalos also stated at a press conference, as reported yesterday by the BBC. What will you do with this information about Albania? [unclear text] What position is the state taking that would make it possible to strengthen the aid of 35 million ECU? Pangalos said that aid for Albania, according to him, was being discussed on Greece’s proposal and without delay. Perhaps we will be able to [text cut off]. As part of the major programme for Albania’s recovery and reconstruction. But how are we to provide this aid? [unclear text] and we cannot have it come to us through a message about the displacement of the annual losses of the Greeks of Albania and of the Albanian people in general. The European Community will not be able to carry out a reconstruction programme to address what its representatives mentioned in such a context—you know that. The EU Commission will do this, Pangalos said. BBC service, 3 June 1994

A jurist’s opinion: Through the TV broadcast of 2 June 1994, we learned that the director of the German Institute “Max Planck”, Prof. Frowein, a renowned specialist in international and comparative law, met with the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Mr. Aleksandër Meksi, who is also chairman of the commission drafting the draft Constitution; with the chairman of the Presidium of the People’s Council, Mr. Pjetër Arbnori; and with the chairman of the Constitution group, Mr. Rustem Gjata. At this meeting, Mr. Arbnori made a statement, expressing himself approximately as follows: “Regarding the main constitutional provisions,” while the question of submitting the draft Constitution for approval is a political moment that the left-wing forces are exploiting to create a parliamentary [text unclear]. Examining this statement from a legal perspective, and with all due respect for the high and honoured office of the Chairman of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, I consider it necessary to set out the following objections: 1. Mr. Pjetër Arbnori’s aforementioned statement creates the impression that the draft Constitution has been completed and, because of the moment mentioned above, will not be submitted for discussion and approval, or will be submitted when deemed appropriate. Would such an action fall within his authority? 2. The difficulties in drafting the draft [text cut off] [Continued on page 3]

Trial reopened against former senior party and state officials RAMIZ ALIA: The truth is not speculation. The court must not allow witnesses to be pressured by threatening them with an arrest warrant. TODI LUBONJA: After being brought into the courtroom accompanied by seven police officers, he declares: “I am against revenge, because it is a savage form of justice. My home has known the gendarmes of Zogu, the fascist militia, Enver Hoxha’s police, and today it has known Sali Berisha’s police.” The third week of the trial of former senior party and state officials began with the questioning of witnesses. The first to appear before the court was Siri Çarçani. Asked about the incident and the executions carried out in February 1951 in connection with the bomb thrown at the Soviet embassy, he gave no facts that would prove a link between this act and the defendants in the courtroom. The defendants’ lawyers objected to questioning the witness, arguing that his testimony had no connection with their clients. “I have explained what I know about the February incident at the Soviet embassy and the 22 people who were executed,” says the next witness, Rasim Dedja, “but neither Ramiz Alia nor anyone else dealt with this matter. Mehmet Shehu drew up the lists. During the investigation, too, I was not questioned about these people.” “I know nothing about these people,” says the third witness, Vangjel Kocani, in his testimony. “In February 1951 I was at the High Court. The chairman summoned me and told me that a document had to be signed as if we had held a trial for those who were executed.” [Continued on page 3]

President Berisha assures Macedonian Parliament Speaker Stojan Andov The Chairman of the Macedonian Parliament, Stojan, made a two-day visit to Albania. He met and held talks with the highest-ranking Albanian officials, including President Berisha, which appears to have been the most important meeting. Andov asked Berisha for Albania’s support for his country’s membership in the CSCE, while at their meeting they discussed the good relations between the two countries and [text cut off]. [Continued on page 4]