— Albanian justice faces its third test. Will the Court of Cassation be able to escape the shackles of the party order? ... It is reported that the appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal has arrived at the Court of Cassation—a decision which, as is known, upheld the ruling handed down by the Tirana District Court against the Chairman of the Socialist Party and member of the People’s Assembly Fatos Nano, who was arbitrarily and unlawfully sentenced, without any facts and without any evidence, to 12 years’ imprisonment. The Chairman of the Socialist Party, arrested on 30 July 1993 and held in extremely harsh conditions in Tirana prison, thus puts the Albanian justice system to its third test, giving it once again the opportunity to restore the honor violated by the party order of the Berisha regime. But a question arises: Will the Court of Cassation be able to escape the shackles of the party order?

The Fier District Council, which met on 22.06.1994, conducted an analysis of the unlawful and anti-democratic events of a terrorist-fascist nature that took place on 29 May 1994, the day of the elections for commune chairman in the commune of Libofshë. During this analysis, the material presented by the Presidium of the District Council was heard, as were the explanations of the District Prosecutor; discussions were held and explanations were given by the councilors present, and a statement on behalf of the group of Socialist councilors was read. At the conclusion, the District Council reached the following conclusions and decisions.. 1. To condemn and denounce the criminal violation of human rights, especially the right to a free vote, on 29 May 1994 in Libofshë by organized banditry. 2. To ask the Government of the Republic of Albania to dismiss from office the secretary of the Fier District Council, Mr. Selami Morina. 3. To ask Prime Minister Meksi to dismiss the prefect of the Prefecture of Durrës, Mr. Viktor Margilaj. 4. To ask the Minister of Public Order, Mr. Agron Musaraj, to dismiss the heads of the Fier Police, Agron Braçe, Petraq Petani and Zigur Bisha. 5. To call on all the justice authorities to ensure that the house-arrest measure announced by the District Prosecutor’s Office for the accused Behar Plaka and Dhimo Kumaraku does not remain on paper but is implemented and monitored. 6 To ask the President of the Republic to dismiss the chairman of the Kuman commune, Mr. Behar Plaka. 7. To ask the prosecution authorities to bring criminal proceedings against all the organizers and perpetrators of the events of 27 and 29 May in Libofshë. 8. To ask the General Prosecutor’s Office to retract the announcement made on television on 29 May 1994. 9. To ask the President of the Republic to announce the date of new elections for the chairman of the Libofshë commune and to guarantee that these elections are conducted lawfully and democratically. For the Fier District Council The Chairman ROBERT BITRI

— Mr. Margilaj’s action essentially expresses the cynicism that today’s authorities display not only toward the opposition, but also toward the most fundamental values of democracy and human decency. The day before yesterday, RD published on its front page a notice titled: Margjilaj denounces Dokle, Pëllumbi and Ulqini for insult and defamation. According to this notice, the prefect of Durrës, Viktor Margilaj, filed a criminal complaint with the Tirana Prosecutor’s Office on 23 June 1994 against the above-mentioned members of parliament. Viktor Margilaj, one of the chief organizers of the state crime committed in Libofshë against Albanian voters on 29 May, feels insulted by the public denunciation of this ugly criminal act made by the Socialist Party and Socialist MPs! The height of shamelessness comes when this gentleman declares: “I will not allow anyone to damage my dignity”! Take note! This is the civic courage with which a man dares to make a public declaration, when he and his gang brutally assaulted 5 legitimate representatives of the people in the village of Agim and subjected dozens of PS representatives to physical terror at polling stations in the commune of Libofshë. This action by Mr. Margilaj, one of the representative figures of today’s state, essentially expresses the cynicism that today’s official authorities display not only toward the opposition, but also toward the most fundamental values of democracy and human decency. The PS and the 6 MPs assaulted by Viktor Margilaj’s gang reported to the prosecution authorities, at the beginning of June, all those who took part in the Libofshë crime, including Mr. Margilaj himself. Let this gentleman first wait to see what position justice will take, and then play the victim. I want to remind Mr. Margilaj that dignity is sacred for all citizens. No one puts up with being knocked down, being unjustly attacked, or having things that are untrue spread about them. I personally first met Mr. Margilaj when I was [unclear] with him and his gang at the place [unclear] escape the shackles of the party order? — The end of the text is cut off by the edge of the photograph — Agim of Libofshë. You, Mr. Margilaj, together with the criminals you had with you, not only laid hands on us, violating not only the “customary law of the mountains,” which you know so well, but also the laws of democracy. You have [unclear] published a vile slander about me in RD dated 4 June, which I was unable to mention here. All the linguists of the world call people who act like you “bandits.” I have said nothing more than that. ‘You know very well that this is the language a person can use when [unclear] are unjustly attacking him. Never call this [unclear], Mr. Margilaj! Your dignity is not worth a gram more than mine or anyone else’s. Using the means and power at your disposal because you are in power to oppress others who do not have those means and power does not show strength at all. Do not forget, Mr. Margilaj, that nothing in this world is eternal, so your power will not be either. MUSA ULQINI Deputy [text breaks off and resumes with apparent unrelated fragments] compelled to pay a tax at the same time for his house, and to labor and sweat in the village for the house and for the “gifts of the Democratic Party” themselves. From now on, in the “Successes of the party and the democratic government” section in RD, RTV and ATSH, large figures for the collection of taxes and duties will be reported—a section that has so far been the most successful of the PD regime. A. A.

The group of journalists returned to Tirana after a ten-day visit to the Swiss Confederation. It consisted of Thoma Gëllçi, editor-in-chief of «Zëri i popullit»; Teodor Keko, editor-in-chief of «Aleanca»; and Andi Bushati, journalist at the newspaper «Koha jonë». The journalists, invited by the Swiss state organization, visited various economic centers and state institutions, where they learned about Switzerland’s history, its state organization, and how Swiss democracy functions. They also visited a number of international institutions headquartered in Geneva. They also visited and met with journalist colleagues at some of Switzerland’s largest newspapers and exchanged views with them on the role of the press in a democratic society. The visit of the Albanian journalists was held under the auspices of the tourism offices of the cities of Zyrich, Lucernë, Lugano, Berne and Gjenevë. Correspondent of «Zëri i Popullit»

It is not a song from afar. Nor is it a week gone to waste. They are the voices of thousands of drivers calling out: Government! The roads of the homeland, full of potholes, are calling you. And they call out, saying: “Where are the road taxes you are taking from us going?” Government! Do you know that Albania also has roads on land? If you do, have mercy on these drivers, who have taken them on with passion and a hundred worries. Most of them own their vehicles; their livelihood leaves their whole family out on the street. Please, government, leave the drivers their tax money and fix the roads yourselves. You deal with motorways and airports. Those are needed too, since we want wide roads, but narrow roads are better than roads full of potholes. O government officials, great and small! Come down from your planes one day and see what a state the roads used by the people are in. Look at the Elçan-Berat, Elbasan-Librazhd, Levan-Vlorë, and Tepelenë-Gjirokastër roads. But look especially at the roads inside the cities, where cars break their leaf springs every day. We won’t even mention village roads, since you can’t get there; but at least repair the city roads. You never know; you may need them yourselves later. Do you know that the maintenance enterprises have workers? Please remember that they are at work and are paid by this state. Intervene, gentlemen in government, because there are also thousands of voices of the people crying: «Government! The roads of the homeland are calling you!» You will not always travel through the air. ENVER ÇAKAJ

Three days ago, citizen Loro Destani, a pensioner and former worker at the superphosphate plant, a caretaker of neighborhood no. 2 in the town of Laç, took his own life. He carried out the suicide using explosives inside his home. According to people who knew him, the reasons for the suicide were purely economic. “I’m ashamed to go out and beg,” he had said a few days earlier. He left at home his brother and his daughter, who is also unemployed. Correspondent of «Zëri i Popullit».

The World Bank’s affiliate for the poorest countries (AID) announced on Thursday a loan of 9.6 million dollars for primary schools in Albania. Most of the buildings are old, more than forty years old, and poorly maintained, a statement from the bank said. At the beginning of the 1990s, one third of primary schools (around 1,600 buildings) were damaged, occupied by homeless families, and some were burned down. Those that remained have no heating or equipment. The loan, granted under AID’s usual terms, has a 40-year term, and repayment will begin after the ten-year grace period. It will serve to «cover the most urgent needs», according to the statement. The project is estimated at 11.3 million dollars. Tirana will contribute 1.7 million. The funds have been made available by Japan and Switzerland. Additional funds are expected to be granted by the European Union and the American foundation of Hungarian origin, George Soros, the Bank said. (AFP-ATSH)

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For two consecutive days, Corfu, this beautiful Greek island, became the epicenter of Europe. The EU summit was held there. As in such cases, security was at a high level; Russian President Jelcin, the president at this European meeting, had also brought his armored limousine, while the EU itself had spent around 600 million dollars on restoring the island’s Venetian Castle and the facilities and infrastructure that would facilitate the meeting. The EU summit in Corfu was much more than another meeting at which the EU presidency is handed over. In Corfu, important agreements had been prepared for signature concerning the future of the EU and, more broadly, European cooperation, a development strategy, as well as the resolution of the problems that would arise when Zhak Delor took office as president of the European Commission. Such a meeting brings together 12 of the 16 European leaders, ... ... Western, and Russian President Boris Jelcin. It is this participation, the issues discussed, and the agreements signed that give the Corfu meeting its special significance. The proceedings of this meeting began with the signing of two agreements of great importance for the EU and for all of Europe and beyond. The highest representatives of Austria, Sweden, Norway, and Finland signed their accession, thereby joining the EU; from that moment, the EU no longer had 12 members but 16, who will officially join the EU on January 1 of ... This will have a positive effect on national foreign policies. ... (Continued on page 4)

- The state had 2.8 million lek frozen; workers are to be made to pay 345 thousand. - Will B. Çela get involved in this scandal? In brief, the incident unfolded along these lines—or, rather, this is the tip of the iceberg that lies beneath the surface: The new building of the wickerwork workshop of the city of Peshkopi’s arts enterprise underwent privatization. The director and a female worker applied to become its owners. The land on which the building stands is state property, at a site where the livestock market once stood, and as such the building had to be put up for a three-round auction. The city’s privatization board decided that the wickerwork workshop should be auctioned. During the auction, the value of the building rose from 2.3 million lek to 5.12 million, an increase of 2.82 million. The auction was won by the director of the arts enterprise. Immediately afterward, the director sent the money to the privatization agency, around 4 million lek. A further 1.12 million lek remained unpaid. In this process, and under government decisions applicable to the case, the workers of the arts enterprise were to receive a reward equal to 20 percent of the money paid in—that is, of the 4 million—which amounted to 800,000 lek. By court ruling, the land on which the wickerwork workshop stands was recognized as the property of a third party. The court proceedings took place with witnesses, without taking into consideration the decision or opinion of the commission for the return of property at the city municipality. The «property» acquired in this way passes as a «gift» from its lawful owner to the owner of the building. Without the privatization board meeting or reconvening, its first decision was annulled; the sale by auction was cancelled through a ... the full amount had been paid (although at the time 4 million had been paid and 1.12 million lek remained unpaid), and another decision was made: «sale of the building to the owner of the land». The owner is refunded the difference between 4 million and 2.3 million, that is, 1.7 million lek. After all these operations, it is being demanded that 340,000 lek be withheld from the workers who received a reward from the official auction. No comment is needed. Most of the members present at the Peshkopi privatization board on June 17, 1994, share this view. The accusation made by the board’s socialist member, Islam Tafa, with supporting evidence, caused unprecedented turmoil. The turmoil concerns not the «tip» but the «hidden trunk of the iceberg»—the trunk whose branches, they say, have extended into the circles of people with influence at the center. This is a matter that Prime Minister Meksi and Minister Çela (Çela of the State Control, but also Çela responsible for overseeing legislation and justice) should investigate. This is not only about the 2.82 million lek lost by the state, but about much more than that.