- Calls for the escalation of protests against the Meksi government’s policy of violence. - Prime Minister Meksi cannot govern with ministers who work to carry out political imprisonments. - Request addressed to the European Parliament and the Geneva Union for the release of Fatos Nano. “Let the violence end, let the terror end, let state crime and the violation of human rights and the rights of the opposition end. We call on socialists, honest democrats, all the unemployed and the landless to organize mass protests in July, culminating on July 30”—this was the message delivered by around 200 Durrës socialists on Thursday afternoon at a meeting held in the sports palace, where the chants were “Freedom, democracy, Socialist Party, ‘Freedom for Nano.’” For yet another time, Durrës socialists gathered to express their protest against the policy of violence, the violation of human rights, scandalous plunder through privatization, the infringement of civil rights and the discrimination being inflicted on poor Albanians, and intellectuals in particular. “I want to declare my protest together with you,” said Kastriot Ahmetaj, an actor at the Aleksandër Moisiu Theatre, “against this kind of democracy being built in Albania. Freedom and democracy are beautiful words to say, but we want freedom to be clean and without shackles; we want democracy to be clean, and we want the government to be clean. I join your protest for true democracy, refusing to accept the discrimination being inflicted on the intelligentsia and Albanian culture.” Next, representatives of the Socialist Women’s Forum spoke to express their protest, as did Mr. Muço Nanushi, an emigrant speaking on behalf of emigrants in Cezena and Rimini, and N. Pasha, representative of FRESSH. They all said: “We protest, demanding a democratic Albania, not a neo-dictatorial and neo-fascist one; we protest against the violation of civil and economic rights; we protest against the absurd imprisonment, driven by political vindictiveness, of the chairman of the Socialist Party, ‘the people’s deputy,’ Fatos Nano; we protest against those implicated in the crime in Libofshë who have been rewarded with the post of prefect of Durrës, Viktor Margjilaj.” These words were punctuated by enthusiastic chants of “Freedom—Democracy” and “Free Fatos Nano,” which continued for many minutes. Amid this enthusiasm, the deputy chairman of the Socialist Party, MP Ilir Meta, took the floor. “I thank you for your solidarity,” said Mr. Meta, “for joining, here today, the protest of Albanians since the imprisonment of Fatos Nano, refusing to tolerate the seizure of human, civil and economic rights. Four years ago, in December ’90, no one could have imagined that today we would once again be forced to confront the problem of human-rights violations, whose persistence is still keeping Albania outside the Council of Europe. We have come here today,” Mr. Meta continued, “to tell the present authorities that they are incapable of bringing democracy to Albania and incapable of respecting fundamental human freedoms and rights; to tell the authorities that they are incapable of holding free elections in a democracy. For this reason, we have submitted a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Meksi and his government. Meksi,” Mr. Meta continued, “must understand clearly that he cannot govern with ministers whose minds are set on, and who work for, political imprisonments, in order to cover up the corruption that has become their companion in government. The ‘Nano case’ is not just an issue for the Socialist Party; it is a fundamental issue for Albanian democracy. Now, after F. Nano has spent 11 months in prison, it has become internationalized, and further developments will follow. The Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva will take up this issue again in July. Despite the scandalous violations of human rights, despite the distortion of the path of reform, the Socialist Party, guided by national interests, considers it highly honorable to say ‘yes’ to Albania’s entry into the Council of Europe. The Socialist Party,” Ilir Meta continued, “is not a party of exhausted reform alternatives or of minority interests. The Socialist Party is a party of new alternatives, and for this reason we will seek the people’s confidence in early general elections.” MP Moikom Zego then said that you can torture someone, but you can never force them to be convinced. Force, prison and political revenge have been brought to bear on Socialist Party chairman Fatos Nano, who has been in prison for 11 months. At present, he is the only political prisoner from the opposition in Europe. “I am convinced that we will win,” Mr. Zego continued, “because the Socialist Party holds the social key. The right of the ordinary person to pursue their own interests is the strength of the Socialist Party. The use of violence against these interests shows that the authorities are in crisis.” ERION BRACE

- FRESSH Steering Committee meets On Tuesday, June 14, 1994, a meeting of the Steering Committee of the Forum of Euro-Socialist Youth of Albania was held in one of the halls at the headquarters of the Socialist Party’s General Executive Committee. The meeting focused on the state of the forum’s branches in the districts, its current work and activities, its prospects for the future, and the level of its international relations. Opening the meeting, FRESSH chairman and MP Pandeli Majko emphasized the important political developments the country is going through, which call for a further increase in FRESSH’s role. Representatives of the branches in the districts of Lezhë, Shkodër, Kavajë, Skrapar, Mallakastër, Tropojë, Laç, Berat, Elbasan, Vlorë, Kuçovë, Durrës, Lushnjë, Korçë, Ersekë, Tiranë, and elsewhere then reported on the situation in their districts. In their discussions, they focused on FRESSH’s activities to date, their involvement in the election campaign, preparations for Socialist Party conferences in the districts, increasing new party memberships, and organizing mass activities during July and August. The meeting then continued with a discussion of FRESSH’s international relations to date and their near-term prospects. In his remarks, FRESSH deputy chairman for international relations Ilir Meta emphasized that FRESSH had so far justified its admission to the International Union of Socialist Youth, but that this was nevertheless a modest beginning, he said, in integrating the forum as part of European socialist youth. In the near future, FRESSH’s intensified international relations should aim to develop concrete national activities with its European counterparts, both in Albania and in other countries. FRESSH spokesperson

A question for everyone: Two and a half years have passed, and Albania, which knocks every day on Europe’s doors, is without a Constitution. Why hasn’t the Constitution arrived? A question for everyone: Why does Albania have no constitution? Two and a half years have passed, and Albania, which knocks every day on Europe’s doors, is without a Constitution. Why hasn’t the Constitution arrived? SHAQIR VUKAJ: As I have stressed before, in my opinion the Constitution will not come. This has been clear for a year now: the Constitutional Drafting Commission has not met during the last 4–5 months, or, if it has met, it has met only for a few minutes. This clearly shows that the party in power and the government do not want the Constitution to come before Parliament. On various occasions, leaders of the Democratic Party, and in some cases even leaders of the People’s Assembly, have clearly said that bringing the draft Constitution before this body would mean new elections. GRAMOZ RUÇI: The Socialist Party’s position on this issue has been, and remains, that the rule of law must be established in Albania; a Constitution must be drafted, from which all the country’s legislation should derive, now and not for Albania. Second: From a legal standpoint, today’s rulers do not want a constitution because without one their hands are free for unlawful activities where the … the drafting can be completed very quickly. From there, I see no other obstacle. I see no objective procedural obstacle that would prevent it from coming before Parliament. Everyone’s desire, and my personal desire, is for this to happen as soon as possible. The main responsibility rests with the chairman of the Commission, Prime Minister Meksi, to speed up the work. At the very least, the Draft should be ready as soon as possible. Petrit Kalakula, Abdi Baleta and Tomorr Malasi did not comment. Prepared by ADRIAN MYSLYMI

Interview with the chairman of the Socialist Party and deputy of the People’s Assembly, Fatos Nano, given to the newspaper «Populli Po» Yes: When and where was Fatos Nano born, and where did he spend his childhood? Mr. Nano: I was born on the tenth anniversary of the Peza Conference, at dawn on 16. 9. 1952, as my mother says. Like many others, I spent my childhood with my mother. My childhood was spent at the «Hoxha Tahsin» school and the «Kuqe» school, in Tiranë. Even here in prison, one of my childhood friends introduces me like this, to put it briefly: «Hey, what a little alley!...» And it was precisely in that alley, perhaps more than anywhere else, after an unexpected illness, when my mother gave me life for the second time, when I was about 8–9 years old, that I was a bit chubby and could not keep up with my friends when running. So whenever one of them teased me, I would hit him with a stone in the alley. And since, damn it, I was a good shot, my father would come home from work, and the neighborhood women would come out to meet him and complain, along with my mother. It all ended with a few broken slats and threats of punishment... And that is how I grew up. Yes: What stands out for you from high school? - Two things: First, my love for the companion of my life, which over the last 2–3 years has been rekindled with the same fire, because we are surrounded by the same «environment of heresy». It began then, like all love stories, but became special because it appeared publicly in the hall of literature (in the second-floor corridor of «Sami Frashëri» High School), where our teacher, Vali, displayed our essays as the best; in a competition that lasted two years and attracted everyone’s attention. And we did not express our feelings and thoughts at all in the «official language»... Now that I am in prison, we write to each other (and the same happens with the children) with the same heresy. The second «heresy» of high school was forming the artistic group with Edi, Tori and Meti, and the competition with Dorian Nini, in the parallel class. I was the group’s lead soloist and performed songs from the «Beatles» repertoire, quite originally. Yes: - How many of your youthful dreams do you see fulfilled? - The spiritual ones, almost all of them; especially when I see that we have reproduced ourselves with a high degree of depth, [the following passage is garbled in the source]... Such wonders can happen only here with us, and they are becoming causes for people who are mothers, who do not know where to turn, as they try to cope with life in a democratic Albania. (Continued on page 3)

In the city, where taxes are paid on Kavaja Street in Tiranë, every day a crowd gathers around the system … [partly illegible]. [Next column] … to be done … the collectors are answered with … [partly illegible]. The red one is because citizens co- … [partly illegible]. [Right-hand column] … everything … [partly illegible]. F. TREBESHINA

Around 80 workers are barricaded in gallery 1280 of the chrome mine in Batër, Martanesh. As we learned late last night from a reliable government source, around 80 workers at the chrome mine in Batër, Martanesh, have been barricaded in a hunger strike in gallery 1280 since June 16. So far, government authorities have provided no information, but, according to the same government source, the reasons that led the workers to barricade themselves are not political but economic. They have demanded that the increase be paid, a matter that has so far been ignored. Thus, their demand was met with the government officials’ stony silence. But what will happen after the strike? «Zëri i Popullit» correspondent

The citizens of Tirana will be able to watch 6 international satellite channels, among the most powerful in the world, without needing to install a parabolic antenna. Tirana Municipality and its Energy Section have taken care to ensure that this event for the capital coincides with the start of the year’s activity, the USA ’94 World Cup. CNN (SI En En), EURO NEWS, TF-2, ITALIA UNO, SI-1, FOX CHANNEL and RTL will be the stations freely available to the capital’s television viewers, who will pay only 50 lek per household as a one-time initial fee. The initial investments, to be made quickly, will also include repeaters for the three Italian television channels, RAI-1, RAI-2, RAI-3, with which they have had … [partly illegible]. ASTRIT PATOSI (ATSH)

The position of the SP on this issue has been, and remains, that the rule of law must be established in Albania. The Constitution must be adopted, from which all legislation and the democratic activity of the state and its institutions should derive. The position of the SP of law must be established in Albania. The Constitution must be adopted, from which all legislation and the democratic activity of the state and its institutions should derive. But nearly two and a half years of DP rule have passed, and the Constitution has not only failed to materialize, but no date is even expected for its discussion and adoption, because: First: Politically, today’s rulers have no inclination to cooperate with all political forces to draft and adopt Albania’s Constitution. It seems that, to them, Albania, the Constitution and democracy are all equivalent to the DP; in other words, they want to make a constitution for the Party, not for Albania. Second: Legally, today’s rulers do not want a Constitution, so that they can keep their hands free for illegal activities, with Party politics taking precedence over the rule of law. Third: Economically, the rulers do not want the Constitution so they can keep their hands free to plunder the national economy through administrative decisions based on political convictions. Finally: Since the rulers think that Europe accepts you and invests even without a constitution, this concerns them little—or, indeed, not at all. For them, it is enough that they have been accepted by the Islamic Conference.

We are making every effort to ensure that the Constitution is brought forward. As far as we know, the Constitution has made considerable progress. It may be difficult to pass the Constitution in Parliament, because the largest group is the Democratic Party and it no longer accounts for 2–3. Nevertheless, it would be good for the Constitution to be brought forward, and we have proposed and consistently insisted that a Constitution be drafted that can win the consensus of Albania’s political forces. If this can be achieved—if it is accepted by all, or adopted by a majority of parliamentarians—then it will be a great victory, because the Constitution will have great longevity. We believe that we will achieve this.

I am a member of the Commission for drafting the Constitution. The truth is that the matter has been put in a … [the text is partly illegible]. We have only the final part left, which concerns the Form of the Constitutional Court. With even a little care, the drafting of the final text by the Co- [continues in the adjacent column].

A few days ago, while in serious condition, the patient hanged himself in one of the rooms on the first floor of the psychiatric hospital. Since the day of his death (more than a week ago), no conclusions about the death have yet been reached, as the matter is being investigated. Specialists who do not wish to be identified state, with professional responsibility, that the patient died because of the attending doctor’s negligence, which, they say, is fully confirmed by the patient’s medical record. - Moments before hanging himself, the patient had announced his act, asking them to let him see a specialist. But no one listened to the patient, and he received neither help nor care in this regard. Correspondent of «Zëri i Popullit»