NEWS OF THE DAY TIRANA 115 people confined Tension around the site where the strike is taking place, awaiting a possible police intervention After repeatedly warning the government to resolve their 10-point economic demands, 115 persecuted people are confined in the large hall at the headquarters of the National Association. Not agreeing with the government’s responses and the solutions provided to the problems they raised, including the proposals made in recent days, they considered entering a hunger strike to be the fairest course of action. Meanwhile, the government camp has taken other measures. The government submitted a request to the Tirana court, asking that the hunger strike be declared illegal and, as such, prohibited by force and stopped, while reiterating its other request to resolve the consequences resulting from this strike. After a preliminary review of this complaint, the court decided to suspend the continuation of the hunger strike until the case has been adjudicated. Such a decision obliges the litigating parties to take it into consideration, first and foremost voluntarily. In a press statement, the hunger-strike committee emphasizes: “The government is responding to our demands with threats, with ultrafascist pressure. The unscrupulous pressure being exerted on the hunger strike proves that Albania is heading toward a new dictatorship. The fact that the mass media are partisan, and that the Police and Army are politicized, show very clearly that we are a party-state. The corruption that has penetrated every artery of the country calls for the total mobilization of democratic Albanian forces to save the country from this terrible disease. The slightest violence against the political hunger strikers will confirm that this is not a democratic state but a state of the fascist type. What communism says about the press. The strike continues.” Correspondent of “Zëri i popullit”

— The head of the branch of the persecuted people has been dismissed — — Deputy chairmen A. Spahia and A. Serreqi fail to reach an agreement with the strikers. Representatives of the association of former political persecutees from the districts of Shkodër and Mallakastër and Malesi i Madhe began a hunger strike, as they had announced, on Friday at around 11 o’clock. They entered the second floor of the former atheist museum building, in the center of the city. Initially 60 people joined the strike, but, as they told us this morning, the number has continued to rise to more than 80. This strike was preceded a few days ago by the dismissal of Refik Bushati, chairman of the Association of Former Political Persecutees of Shkodër. One member of the strike committee told us that Mr. Bushati was dismissed because, in distributing the 100 homes allocated for political persecutees, he relied on the preferences of local power officials, leaving consultation with the association aside. The position of chairman was offered to Ernest Perpoda, who resigned as chairman of the district branch of the DP a few months ago, but has not yet accepted the position. For the time being, therefore, the association is being led by Nik Pavaci. As we learned yesterday, during Friday representatives of the strikers met at the local government headquarters with the deputy chairmen who had come from Tirana, Ali Spahia and Alfred Serreqi, but in the end they did not agree to end the strike. Also during that day, a statement was issued in response to the government’s reaction to their demands the previous day. Dozens of people are standing in front of the building where the strike is taking place, supporters of the strikers and members of their families. They communicate with the strikers through the windows. The guard at the door says, “We do not allow anyone inside, except with water, cigarettes and newspapers.” Meanwhile, dozens of statements in support of this strike have been posted by members of the Balli Kombëtar, Legaliteti, Democratic and Democratic Union parties. The strikers’ health is good. MUSA KURTULAJ

— LETTERS, — PETITIONS, — STATEMENTS — “OUR BEST WISHES TO OUR DEPUTY” Dear Deputy! A full year has passed since you were physically placed in the cells of Tirana prison, but spiritually, throughout this year, you have been among us through the messages you have sent from your cell to the Socialist Party, to the Socialist electorate across our country, including the Socialist electorate of Kuçovë. Your stance is a source of inspiration for us, who gave you our votes on 22 March 1992, and it further strengthens our commitment to the ideals of Democratic Socialism. Not only we, the members and supporters of the SP, but also true democrats understand that you are being kept in prison only because you are chairman of the Socialist Party, the largest opposition party; only because you fight for and stand for social justice; only because you fight corruption; only because you want Albania to become part of democratic Europe; only because you oppose every kind of dictatorship. For the things you wanted, they persecute, they punish those who invent the notorious Article 24 1; they punish those who are robbing the national wealth; they punish those who want to hold on to power by force, as they did in the Commune of Libofshë. But force and violence cannot be used against a people that has now understood where it stands. Whoever uses violence, whoever settles scores with a political opponent, is destined to fail. And our country is no stranger to such experience. The people said no to the 45-year dictatorship, and they will do the same against any kind of dictatorship. Your being kept in prison has increased your worth, made you stronger, brought you closer to people, made you more nationally rooted and more internationally known, and thus it is clear that you are a political prisoner of the regime. On the other hand, however, your imprisonment has physically separated you from your parents, your children and your relatives, whose souls and hearts ache for you, their closest one. Therefore, we, as the Socialist electorate of the Kuçovë district, once again appeal to President Berisha and the Albanian Parliament to release our innocent deputy from the dark cells of the prisons of the dictatorship era, and to allow this intellectual, this father, this husband to go to his dear friends and comrades, children and parents. We appeal to President Berisha and the Albanian Parliament to always listen to renowned intellectuals such as Bedri Dedja and Rexhep Meidani, and not only when their statements serve the interests of the party represented by Mr. President. Dear Deputy, What we are writing to you emerged quite naturally during the meetings that the deputies of the SP parliamentary group held with residents of Kuçovë, in the city and in the villages. Alongside their everyday worries and problems, such as the high prices of fuel and electricity, mass payments, registered employment lists (Continued on page 2) ... high-ranking representatives of the unity of the Albanian nation, to understand the Nano issue correctly and resolve it, because its just resolution serves the democracy we want to build and serves the unity of the country and the nation, since every passing moment increases the injustice and the responsibility of the executors. Fatos Nano is innocent; his conviction is not supported by concrete evidence. His conviction has dealt a severe blow to Albanian democracy. Therefore, in the name of the more than 18 thousand people who signed the petition for Fatos Nano’s release, members and supporters of the PS (Continued on page 2) the General Steering Committee of the PS and its parliamentary group regarding the current political situations our country is going through. 2) We strongly oppose the conviction his immediate release from prison, because we are convinced of his innocence. 3) We express our solidarity with the positions and demands presented at the rally of the capital’s Socialists on 29 July 1994, addressed to public opinion (Continued on page 2)

Former persecutees were not allowed to confine themselves. “They have not ended the strike,” as is being said on TV. LAÇ In Laç too, the association of former persecutees and persecuted people appointed a delegation that would be confined, supported by all the association’s members. The association’s members were also appointed. The premises where they would be confined were designated as well, specifically one of the halls of the city’s Palace of Culture. But what happened? The state authorities had issued an order: the strikers were not to be confined under any circumstances for a hunger strike. Measures had immediately been put in place to achieve this aim. From the early morning hours, the Palace of Culture was surrounded by security forces. Police vans and dozens of officers placed the premises of the palace under strict control. No one could get through to the main square in front of the palace. The police had truly erected a cordon around the city. “What is going on?” someone asks. “Are they acting this way against the persecuted too? Are even the oppressed being denied their human rights? They cannot get past the security forces’ cordon to confine themselves and go on strike.” They demanded to be confined elsewhere at any cost. After many efforts in the afternoon, although the police followed them everywhere, around 30 people managed to confine themselves in a building belonging to the former military unit, below the superphosphate factory. Police pressure reached its peak. The main leaders of the association and the strike committee, Messrs. Viash Tiroli, Sali Bujari and Luan Maluska, as well as the public-order inspector Dedë Lleshi, were held in isolation at the police station for about four hours. Meanwhile, the security forces managed to remove those confined from the hunger strike. Television reported that the strikers in Laç had “ended the strike,” whereas the facts show that they were forcibly removed. The strikers continued to move around the city streets in distress, but were unable to confine themselves and go on strike. The security forces, as always, remain on top alert. BEKTASH ZENELI

Greece Since 2 August, a delegation of the Albanian Eurosocialist Youth, headed by Luan M. Rama, a member of its leadership, has been in Alqid is, Greece, at the invitation of the PASOK Socialist Youth. The Albanian delegation is taking part in the proceedings of the Balkan Youth Conference, which concludes its work today. FRESSH spokesperson.

TIRANA Yesterday, at the premises of the Academy of Arts in Tirana, the National Committee of Veterans of the National Liberation Antifascist War commemorated the 50th anniversary of the First Congress of the Antifascist Youth, held on 8 August 1944 in the Field of Lirza in Skrapar. The chairman of the National Committee of Veterans, and a participant in the first Youth Congress, Pirro Dodbiba, delivered the commemorative address. He described the congress as a historic gathering of Albanian revolutionary youth. Events of this kind continue to be unique and remain engraved in the nation’s consciousness. The 285 delegates to that Congress brought together the highest and most sublime ideal, the ideal of freedom and progress, the dream of a democratic society. That generation remained an example of the struggle for freedom, prosperity and democracy. “The First Congress of the Antifascist Youth remains unforgettable,” Mr. Dodbiba concluded. Many former delegates to that Congress also spoke at the meeting, sharing memories of the work to prepare the congress, its proceedings, and the tasks it set, which they considered the most important for the country’s future. Correspondent of «Zëri i popullit»

Yesterday, Mr. Husametin Cindoruk, Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, began an official visit to our country. He was welcomed at Rinas Airport by his Albanian counterpart, Mr. Arbnor, the Speaker of the People’s Assembly, etc. He held talks with Mr. Arbnor; they discussed bilateral relations and the situation in the Balkans. Arbnor gave an overview of the laws that had been adopted and of economic and political developments. Regarding the situation in the region, the importance of stability and the special Balkan setting was emphasized. The two speakers visited the Mosque, at the possible meeting point of the Adriatic and the East... the decision and V...luga, where, in particular, the Albanians showed their guest from Turkey the plans for the East–West line, which will begin in Durrës and end in Istanbul. Mr. Cindoruk was born in Izmir in 1933. He attended primary and secondary school in Ankara and graduated in Law from the Ankara Lyceum of Law in 1950, and then from the Faculty of Law in 1954. In 1955 he began practising as a lawyer. While still a student at the faculty, in 1952, he became a member of the Democratic Party. Until 1954 he was president of the Youth Organization of the De... Party (text interrupted) ... After the military officers’ revolution in 1960, he was arrested but released after two and a half months. In 1975 he was elected president of the Justice Party and in 1980, on 14 May 1985, he was elected president of the True Path Party, a position he held until 1987. In 1990 he held the post of deputy president of the True Path Party. In the general elections of October 1991, he was elected deputy from the Eskişehir constituency. He is married and has three children. Prepared by L. COTA

KORÇË Around 50 former political prisoners, who had confined themselves on Friday in the premises of the day, in the building and in their last family home, confined themselves in the premises of the old workshop ... With the police unit ... the control of the forces ... Marisa ... one ... A participant in the strike, a political prisoner who does not wish to be identified, said that in the afternoon of that same day large numbers of police officers wearing helmets and protective gear, commanded by the Korçë police chiefs and SHIK officials, entered and forcibly removed the hunger strikers from the premises where they had confined themselves. He says that the premises of the political strike, in terms of distinguishing the strikers from the strike, are unprecedented; about their violence, he says that ... From contacts with the Korçë former political prisoners, the chief ... ... that they are determined not to withdraw their demands and are doing everything possible to remain on strike. Meanwhile, all the roads of Korçë and various premises, such as enterprises, institutions and dormitories, are being monitored by the security forces and observers to block any attempt at a possible strike. Meanwhile, groups of former political prisoners are moving along the city’s main boulevard. Correspondent of «Zëri i popullit»

PETITION Addressed to the President of the Republic, Mr. Sali Berisha Gathered today, 30 July 1994, one year after the political imprisonment of the chairman of the PSSH, deputy Fatos Nano, hundreds of members and supporters of the veteran Socialist Party and young Eurosocialists of the Pogradec district once again express their deep indignation at the scenario prepared in advance by those in power, which aims to divide and eliminate the SP from political life, divide the Albanian nation, and bring the party into conflict with its chairman. The arrest and imprisonment of Fatos Nano were carried out in serious violation of constitutional law, while the three-tier trial represents a great disgrace for Albanian justice in the “Nano Case.” The political and legal scriptwriters and executors of Fatos Nano’s imprisonment and sentence are winners only because of the laws and the use of force. But the President and the judiciary—Fatos Nano won in reality, politically and morally (Continued on page 2)

STATEMENT. Regarding the situation our country is currently going through, characterized by the ruling party’s fierce struggle against the opposition, particularly against the Socialist Party, and by the ruling party’s contempt for politics in every area of the country’s life, we, the members and supporters of the SP in the Malitq area, declare that: 1) We fully support the measured and mature positions of the General Governing Committee of the SP and its parliamentary group regarding the current political situation our country is experiencing. 2) We strongly oppose the sentencing of the chairman of the PSSH, Fatos Nano, and demand his immediate release from prison, because