Representatives of the Albanian Helsinki Committee, Mr. Maka Velo and Mr. Kujtim Çashku, undertook a human-rights observation mission in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia from March 2–4, 1995. The mission of the Albanian Helsinki Committee was prompted by the tragic incident of February 17 in the village of Reshçicë e Vogël, near the city of Tetovë, a city whose population is 90 percent ethnic Albanian. During a clash between Albanian students and Macedonian police on the day the Albanian-language university opened, the 33-year-old citizen Abdyl Selman Emiri was killed, and a number of other citizens, including police officers, were injured. The Albanian Helsinki Committee considers the attack against the University of Tetovë a flagrant violation of international instruments that ... guarantee the right to education and schooling in one’s mother tongue. The Albanian Helsinki Committee calls on the Macedonian authorities to immediately release all those arrested from prison and to create the appropriate conditions for legalizing the Albanian-language university, in accordance with the international standards to which that Republic is committed.

The opposition sends messages of political maturity every day A year and a half has passed since the political imprisonment of the chairman of the Socialist Party and member of parliament Fatos Nano, and this issue has now become the subject of scrutiny and analysis by important bodies in European politics as well. The Nano case severely compromises the present regime in the eyes of the democratic and civilized world. One by one, the heavy brackets on which the monstrous accusation against Nano had been constructed were dismantled—the accusation intended to bring about his downfall, strike at the party under his leadership, and also attack, denigrate, and politically eliminate Fatos Nano himself. Today, almost everyone considers Fatos Nano a political prisoner, and his stance has made him indisputably one of the leading figures in Albanian political life. Two resolutions of the European Parliament and several reports by the International Union have, in different ways, stressed the need for this issue to receive a fair and prompt resolution, also calling for his release. But it is also a fact that all these documents have been filed away by those in power, in the hope that tomorrow will bring forgetfulness with it. The opposite has happened, however. Recently, Europe’s position on this issue has been discussed more openly. And the imprisoned former chairman ... for a long time has tried to evade the authorities’ responsibility for Albania’s almost three-year delay in joining the Council of Europe. The opposition has often been blamed, as though it were the one that had not given its consent and was the obstacle. The positions and statements of several PS leaders have been distorted and misrepresented. But all this has been powerless to erase the emancipatory role of the opposition and the press on Albania’s road to Europe. It is the Socialist Party which, despite being at the center of attacks by those in power—with its chairman imprisoned, with threats of further imprisonment, and with political purges from employment—has expressed an unequivocal YES to Albania’s admission to the Council of Europe. It is Fatos Nano himself, imprisoned, who from his prison cell has publicly expressed his support for Albania’s admission to the Council of Europe. It is representatives of the independent and opposition Albanian press who, precisely on the days when their colleagues were imprisoned, said YES in connection with the Council of Europe reports. All these open and public positions have had a clear aim: to send messages of political maturity to the current authorities. It is regrettable that all this has met with no willingness whatsoever on the part of those in power to reach a consensus. On the contrary, their efforts to portray the Nano case as merely an invention of the opposition have continued. But if Europe has made this issue its own ‘bone of contention’, this is not solely the result of the PS’s work; it is also due to the ongoing and careful investigations of European bodies. Their representatives have also come to Albania and compared facts, positions, and opinions. If Europe is concerned and sets such conditions, it is not the opposition’s fault for raising its voice and fighting for Fatos Nano’s release and for respect for democratic laws and norms. The fault lies with those who carried out this imprisonment, violate the laws, and fail to respect democratic norms. They are primarily responsible for every delay and are the only obstacle to Albania’s admission to Europe. THOMA GËLLÇI … also demanded these materials have been archived bring oblivion with it. But the opposite has happened. Lately, And it is former chairman of the Democratic Party Eduard Selami, who also headed the Albanian delegation in Strasbourg, who is now speaking a little more openly about the interest shown in Nano in Strasbourg. Europe’s interest is understandable, not only because we are part of it, but because it cannot accept tolerating and failing to condemn any violation of human rights, especially political rights, wherever it may occur. The Nano case, the case of the journalists, the absence of a constitution, the absence of the freedoms of assembly and demonstration, and violations of people’s rights are real aspects of why Albania has not yet joined the European family and why the refrain continues that this will happen this quarter, at the end of this month, or at the beginning of that year. It is now known that Albania has fallen far behind its fellow societies and ranks alongside several republics in the Caucasus. Official propaganda for a time…

YESTERDAY IN PARLIAMENT: The DP’s statement is not intended to find the victims’ killers, but to save itself! — Spahia, Berisha’s spokesman in parliament — We will fight every attempt to install a party-state STATEMENT BY THE PARLIAMENTARY GROUP OF THE ALBANIAN SOCIALIST PARTY It seemed that yesterday’s session of the People’s Assembly had begun calmly, but that was not the case. The DP’s secret scenario, unveiled only a few hours before proceedings began in their newspaper, came into play. As always, its protagonist was the chairman of the DP parliamentary group, the well-known Spahia. Opening the day’s proceedings, Mr. Arbnori said that a decree of the President concerning privatization bonds had been submitted for approval and that afterward they would discuss and approve draft laws such as the one on asset declarations. Objecting to this procedure, the chairman of the PS parliamentary group, Dokle, said: “We do not agree with handling the issue in this way. Privatization has so far been carried out scandalously, and to prevent it from continuing like this, the government must immediately present its privatization strategy. On behalf of my group, I would propose that such a discussion be held in parallel with the government’s presentation of the strategy to parliament,” he said. The next reply came from the DP’s privatization reformer, Kopliku, who “with arguments” disputed the figure given by Dokle—that 30 percent of privatization had been carried out under the table—saying that it was all an invention of the newspaper ZP. When the matter went to a vote, the agenda presented by Mr. Arbnori naturally prevailed. The parliamentary group of the Socialist Party, together with all the other members of the People’s Assembly, observed a minute of silence for all those people mentioned in Mr. Spahia’s statement. By doing so, we expressed our respect for the life and death of every citizen of the Republic, and especially for the victims killed during those turbulent moments as Albania transitioned to democracy. But Mr. Spahia’s statement goes beyond this humanitarian framework and is aimed at doing so. It seeks to instrumentalize and politicize the matter in the most extreme way, for calculated and malicious purposes. But we have nothing against Mr. Spahia or the DP parliamentary group, because he is doing nothing other than reading a political message from President Berisha. His accusations against the PS are well known. His attempts to make up for repeated defeats with so-called “anti-communism” are well known. Communism is over and will not return. Everyone here knows that. With this DP propaganda game in Tirana, Mr. Lisi of ’91 ... Mr. Berisha’s political attack has failed because he is not concerned with February 1991, but with February 1995; he is not concerned with an imaginary massacre, but precisely with the fact that it was averted, as other prominent figures have stated, such as the Pope in Rome and German President Herzog. We are not to blame for the collapse of your government, nor are we to blame for the crisis in your party. The era of political chieftains is over once and for all. Even those who voted for him yesterday now think differently. Even those who vote for him today at extraordinary conferences will be heard speaking differently tomorrow. We are all free people and will not submit to the dictates of old, proclaimed tendencies. Therefore, we demand that: The President do the job for which he was elected and not organize divisive politics in the country. The judiciary do its job. Parliament do its job. We respect every humanitarian and legal right, respect the principles of the rule of law, and will fight every attempt to install a party-state and exercise political diktat. … MPs and Democratic Party deputies, who wanted to continue arguing been carried out under the table—saying that all this was fabricated by the newspaper ZP. When it came to the vote, naturally, the agenda put forward by Mr. Arbnori prevailed. But just as proceedings were about to get back to their normal course, in accordance with the procedure that had just been adopted, the chairman of the Democratic Party parliamentary group, Spahia, asked for 15 minutes to meet with the group. … ash. His accusations against the SP are well known. His efforts to make up for successive losses will not return. Everyone among us knows this well. With this kind of propaganda… the PD secretary for Tirana, Mr. Memia, where, using vulgar and typically vindictive language, he directly accused the Socialist Party «of their massacres» during February and… … after he came to power. It would have been better to propose the weakling before he «gave decorations to criminals openly declared to be at war». Mr. Berisha’s political attack is desperate February… … events of ’91. But although his statement did not mention any names, the subtext was clear. In the… (Continued on page 2)

At the afternoon session, parliament continued its work by discussing and approving the draft law on asset declarations by officials and elected representatives. Such a law exists in all democratic countries, and it is worth noting that, despite the insistence of some politicians, it was submitted for approval very late. During the discussion of the draft law in principle, there were also members of parliament such as Mr. Kopliku, who “found” an opportunity to tell everyone that he and his family had no assets other than their house… The head of the State Audit Service considered it extremely important and stressed that asset declarations should go back to 1990, since only in this way, he said, could the assets of the “red” nomenklatura be uncovered. It is dishonest to verify-

The “Sotiris” case has been referred to the prosecutor’s office The question-and-answer interpellation of Mr. Çela with member of parliament Kalakula was accompanied by heated exchanges. In response to the questions put to him, Mr. Çela explained that complaints had been filed with the prosecutor’s office concerning people whose violations had been identified by his body, and that measures had been taken, but he was unable to name any senior state officials. Regarding the ship “Sotiris,” he said that this was an administrative matter and that the file would be sent to the prosecutor’s office. Having the right to reply, it appeared that member of parliament Kalakula was prepared to respond to such accusations and to the non-specific answers from Mr. Çela, because he had prepared a written statement. In his reply, he stressed that the questions called for specific names, which Mr. Çela had not provided because he was afraid. “I,” he said, “have a complete file (Continued on page 4)

Three questions for MP Halli Lala, member of the People’s Assembly Committee on Foreign Political Relations Interviewer: — Mr. Halli, yesterday the chairman of your parliamentary committee, Eduard Selami, made public another condition set by the Council of Europe for Albania’s admission to this organization. What is it about? Answer: — First, we learned about it from the press. At a DP gathering in Shkodër, Selami said that there was not another condition for Albania’s admission to the Council of Europe, but ... The truth is that he did not finish in Shkodër what he had left unfinished in the parliamentary committee of which he is a member and, indeed, its chairman. In more detail, Selami said that there was no reason for Albania not to be admitted to the Council of Europe, since some earlier obstacles—the Constitution (without provisions concerning minorities as a condition) and the freedom of the delegation and some of the candidates on the committee for the Council of Europe concerning justice and minorities, among other things—had been addressed. But Selami pointed out that there had been a common will … … if the opposition made this conditional on the release from prison of the PS chairman, Fatos Nano. Selami said this, while Ali Spahia interjected that this factor and possible circumstance had never arisen for him. The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee also stressed that, regardless of this, at their final meeting together with Mr. Namik Dokle and the Council of Europe Secretary, Mr. Tarchy, Mr. Dokle had not mentioned such a condition; on the contrary, he had expressed support for Albania’s admission to this organization. So what was the way Selami presented this circumstance publicly? I explain it by the fact that Spahia and Dokle are to be in London on March 14 for the political committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and if there is a PS position, I am saying in advance that I know one of these things may not be upheld. But in fact, P. Arbnori has decided that only Spahia will go to London, maintaining his party position. Question: — Was there any reaction in the Committee to this statement? It was received calmly. At least, it did not appear so; Spahia said what I explained above. For us socialists, this is not unexpected. We have sensed it for a long time. I have openly stated in the committee that the Socialist Party, as in every other case, also in this matter weighs the balance of interests, without giving party interests priority over those of Albania. It is clear to us that Albania’s admission to the Council of Europe will also be a powerful factor in the fair development of the Nano case. Question: — So how do you regard this new statement from Selami? Answer: Anyone has the right to reflect. Nevertheless, I do not see any new opinion from Selami regarding the PS. Indeed, it seems to me (and this is only my opinion) that there is something being done right before our eyes. We have all noticed that Berisha’s political power tries at every turn to create situations for the PS that would make it react extremely. Despite the provocations, it is taking things calmly and without passion. Berisha came out with his propaganda claiming that the PS did not want the Constitution. Now it is plain to see who does not want the Constitution. There are claims that the PS does not want Albania in Europe; we have declared and are working for the opposite. Now it seems as if they are whispering in our ears: “What do you have against Europe that makes you keep bringing up this issue?” We say they should keep those things to themselves, whoever has them, and not attribute them to us in good faith; nor do we intend to put them into practice, even at a cost. In short, we will not give anyone the satisfaction of being able to say: “There you are, the Socialists do not want Albania in Europe!” There are others ready to send Europe down the right path, provided that someone else takes the blame for it. In this context, I do not consider Selami’s position clear. Perhaps it is mistaken. For me, one should recall Nano’s words in the century: “The PS was ...” What happened must be proven in prison, while the PD has taken the proclamation even further.

Everything remains unresolved, apart from the prosecutor’s 40 pages Ultimately, the prosecutor’s 40-page file, in which MPs Ruli and Uka are accused in connection with the so-called “walnut timber scandal,” will go to Parliament. The lifting of immunity for two former very senior officials of the Me(s)ki government, currently members of the DP leadership, will be discussed. The special status the press has given the accused in the eyes of the public creates a problem, and the precedents in cases of lifting immunity foreshadow an imminent battle between the two sides, as well as polemics among the country’s political forces. The question “What will your party’s position be in Parliament regarding the ‘walnut timber scandal’?” received the following answers: Adil Baleta: “There are four or five newspapers to which I do not give interviews. Now I have ‘some’ ... confrontation.” Teta: “We still haven’t decided on a position. We will have different opinions. For now, we will discuss it in the relevant ...” Kosta Makariami: “This is a pro… …cess. It is expected that we will define a position.” Namik Dokle: “We haven’t met to discuss it. We also need to familiarize ourselves with the file; the matter is in the file. On the other hand, we need to discuss it; we must be against corruption.” Naqo Apostoli: “We are determined to fight corruption. In this particular case, we haven’t met to determine a position, but in these cases, as far as individual positions are concerned, so far, apart from declarations and taking a stand against corruption, the parties have not defined their specific positions.” And the accused? Asked whether he would accept the decision, whether he would ... or defend himself, Ruli replied: “For now, I can’t say anything.” Naturally, everyone will ... the corrupt. Will that be the case? … discuss it; we must be against corruption.” Gaqo the parties have not defined their specific positions.” As for the accused? Asked whether he approved the decision, will ... the corrupt. Will that be ... BREGU SKRELI