Statement by the leadership of the Socialist Party of Albania Albanians come to terms with the hunger strike of political prisoners In yesterday’s decision of the National Steering Council of the Association of Former Political Persecuted People, the “association of political persecuted people” has announced the organization of a hunger strike to denounce the trampling of the rights of the former persecuted stratum. The sad spectacle of this political protest has its roots in the depths of a serious and irreparable conflict between the right-wing forces and the former political opponents of the communist regime. Those opponents of the communist regime who trusted the fervent promises of Sali Berisha and his self-proclaimed democrats, pure anti-communists, to repair the many moral, economic, and social wounds caused over 50 years. Now, the majority of the persecuted stratum is facing another reality: the greatest deception ever inflicted on them, on their hope and their future. An indicator of this is, first of all, the fact that President Sali Berisha has been in power for 30 months and has not been able to provide the politically persecuted stratum with any final solution. The failure of the democratic government to fulfill the fundamental political and economic demands of the former persecuted is a meaningful and indisputable fact. Despite the symbolic compensation received here and there, more as electoral charity than as responsibility toward this stratum, nothing significant has been done. That is why their anger and reaction are now taking increasingly sharper forms. The Association of the Persecuted has the right to raise its voice about ongoing injustices, negligence, and deception. In a country where the government has promised much and delivered little, social protests become inevitable. This hunger strike is not only a sign of despair, but also an indicator of a deep divide between the current власти and a part of the citizens who were once used as a political banner. The Socialist Party of Albania considers that the country needs real justice, dignified treatment of former persecuted people, and concrete solutions, not empty propaganda. Otherwise, such conflicts will deepen and turn into new social wounds. [note: parts of the text are unclear in the image and may have been read only partially]

According to yesterday’s statement by the National Steering Council of the Association of Former Political Persecuted People, the Albanian government and the relevant institutions are preventing the exercise of a constitutional right to protest. Their response states that the decision to strike was taken after a long period of waiting and unfulfilled demands. Representatives of the association declare that state bodies have considered this initiative illegal, but they insist that the protest will go ahead as the last means of drawing public attention. [the column text is partially unreadable and damaged in the image]

(Continues on page 3) A group of members of the Democratic Party have expressed their solidarity with the strikers, criticizing the stance of the leading structures and the lack of dialogue. In their statements they emphasize that the problem cannot be solved through administrative pressure, but through talks and political responsibility. They demand that the voices of the protesters be heard and treated seriously. [the full text is not clearly readable in the image]

PAVARËSIA MYFTARI [the article is very unclear in the image; only scattered fragments are visible in the column and the headline is not fully certain]

Korçë [the following text in the column is largely unreadable; only a few fragments can be made out relating to a strike and its local developments]

ELBASAN [the article text in the column is not clearly readable; only isolated words can be seen referring to confinement and protests]

Press conference demands: The courage[?] of the Association of Former Political Prisoners (Continues on page 3) [The headline and content are partially unclear; in the image it is understood that this is about a press conference and the association of former political prisoners.]

(Continues on page 4) * * * [Very small and unclear text in the short news section; most of it cannot be read with certainty from the image provided.]

Yesterday Lirëza of Youth, today she is fragile, pampered [The right-hand column is partially legible, but the body of the article cannot be transcribed accurately from this image.]

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