- A prefabricated trial in Tepelenë: political mathematics (10 plus 3 equals 12) is stronger than simple arithmetic. - Albanian justice, accused of wrongdoing, cannot get out of the PD’s and its president’s «Bençe». It truly seemed ironic to see the «democratic game» being played out: yesterday in Tepelenë, the pessimistic majority defeated the optimistic minority, who had been expecting a turning point in Albanian politics. But how could the people know how the trial would end? The people may not know the codes and articles of the law very well, but they sense and smell the climate and the course of events well. But let us provide some details from the chronicle of the dictated verdict. “Everyone stand up,” the announcement rang out in the courtroom, where, as usual, journalists, court employees, police officers and SHIK agents were present, according to those who knew them. After the ritual observance of respect for justice, people took their seats. Only one person was not in his place, and that was the district prosecutor and prosecutor in the case, Alfred Progonati. Lawyer Sanxhaku said that the prosecutor had no right to participate, especially since he was sitting at the same U-shaped table (which had not been properly made) as the panel of judges. The prosecutor said that he was not a member of the panel and could move down, but he did not do even that. The reason became clearer when he took the floor. A kind of calm also settled over the small Tepelenë court as it faced a much stronger one-sided force. After the request to reclassify the criminal offense, the panel of judges withdrew for 10 minutes to consider it. In less than 10 minutes, the panel returned to the courtroom and the presiding judge announced: the panel had discussed the request and decided to reject it as unfounded; the reasons would be set out in the final judgment. The other prefabricated proceedings that followed showed that the outcome had been well known from the very beginning. Sanxhaku and Tirana continued their well-known, high-quality defense: it would be right to reclassify the criminal offense, although we have prepared for and are well informed about your position; we are not asking for charity or for months or years to be deducted; we demand the real independence of the judicial bodies, the dismantling of the fabricated accusation, which will be a black stain of falsifications and manipulations in the history of Albanian justice; we want to free our client from the claws of injustice, on the basis of the law on human rights and the new Criminal Code; we ask you to uphold the standards of a court of fact, because you are not examining the merits of the case or the facts, but are deciding as it seems… Sanhxhaku said that the prosecutor’s right to participate is not provided for, all the more so when he sits at the same table, in the form of a water ... (it could not be done), as the trial panel. the trial panel and could go downstairs, but, he said, he did not do that either. The reason became clearer when he took the floor. One could also understand a certain composure on the part of the small court of Tepelenë in facing, eye to eye, the toughest of justice and Albanian politics itself: the Nano case. The lawyers Sanxhaku and Tirana again showed dignity in their stance and arguments. They reiterated what they had also presented in the joint request with Fatos Nano, “for consideration of the matter concerning the sentence under Articles 8 and 11 of the law on the entry into force of the Penal Code of the Republic of Albania, and classification of the criminal act under the new Penal Code,” after presenting their comparison of the two codes, the old and the new, and supporting with arithmetic logic the request for the release of ...

LAKNAS: As the strike by representatives of forty families from the village of Laknas entered its 21st day, it seemed that its climax would not be brought about by the days of hunger, but by a completely unexpected event. TIRANA Hostages at the site where the hunger strikers are confined – Idriz Xhumari, director of the Land Directorate at the Ministry of Agriculture, and Musa Burreli, village elder, the two hostages who have expressed solidarity with the hunger strikers. LAKNAS: As the strike by representatives of forty families from the village of Laknas entered its 21st day, it seemed that its climax would not be brought about by the days of hunger, but by a completely unexpected event. Yesterday, at around 3:15 p.m., after a meeting at the house Burreli, the village elder of Laknas, were unable to leave the place where the hunger strikers were confined. The senior official of the Ministry of Agriculture and the village elder—after being told, «You will be treated as one of our closest people, but we are compelled to keep you here as a means of pressure to demand an urgent solution»—were held hostage. The strikers have now told the two latest «confinees» that they are demanding a special meeting with the Prime Minister, Agriculture Minister Halili, and the chairman of SHK-SH, Blerim Çela. If, in their presence, a serious agreement is reached that resolves all three of our demands, we will leave the strike together with you, without any confrontation. The strike by the residents of Laknas village began 20 days ago, with these three urgent demands for a solution: 1. We demand land in accordance with the law passed by the Albanian Parliament. 2. We demand compensation per square meter for these two years and four months during which we have been without land and without social assistance. 3. We demand the establishment of a government commission, including SH-KSH inspectors, to verify the legal violations committed during the land distribution. According to the hunger strikers, these very legal violations were committed by the chairman of the Laknas commune and the former village elder, Qemal Vrapi, and are the main reason these 40 families have been left without land and, consequently, the main cause of the hunger strike. According to the strikers, the land to which they were legally entitled was given to «newcomers» or «illegal residents», as they call them, who settled in Laknas village in 1992–93. Although over the course of 20 days the strikers have secured the solidarity of 300 heads of households in Laknas in calling for verification of the current land distribution, as well as the support of the political parties PS, PD, PSD and PR, and of trade unionists from Bulqiza, Katundi i Ri, Yzberish and Lezha, their three demands have still not been recognized as grounds for ending the strike. According to the strikers, a line stretching from the chairman of the District Council, Kudret Shalësi, to the commune chairman is blocking a solution. The effects of the strike so far include one person hospitalized, two others hospitalized and later returned to the strike, and four more strikers with hypertension. Added to these are yesterday’s two hostages, who, according to the strikers, have expressed solidarity with their demands. BESI ÇELA

BULQIZË WHO IS «MILKING» THE CHROMIUM MINE? – Stated in a statement of claim: – Daily profit deep inside the Bulqiza mine is 1.5 million lekë. – Annual profit is 6 million dollars. – Of this profit, the worker gets 1 share and the state 4. – Erroneous figures, judicial blackmail, or extremely savage capitalist exploitation? Faced with the «safes» of sealed-off official information and the total absence of annual and periodic statistical yearbooks, a «statement of claim» addressed to 10 miners who took part in the strike at the end of January this year inadvertently reveals a secret: the mine’s profit. The statement of claim, signed by Gëzim Dauti and stamped by «Chromium Extraction and Enrichment Enterprise – Bulqizë», states, among other things: «Meanwhile, the profit (in our 7-level [unclear]) lost over 5 days in this shaft is 262 tons at a grade of 40.05 percent, amounting to 1,572,000 lekë per day.» Thus, the daily profit from shaft A-2 alone, solely from the strikers’ blockade of levels 8, 9, 10 and 11 from 28 January to 1 February, is 1,572,000 lekë per day. According to the «statement of claim», this was calculated by the enterprise «with an economics specialist». According to these figures, the annual profit at the Bulqiza mine, … (Continued on page 2) Facing the «safes» of sealed-off official information… 262 tons at a grade of 40.05 percent [text cut off] from this, worth 1,572,000 lekë-d…

Comment from Dukagjin on the PD’s contract Shoshi has no more than 1,500–1,600 inhabitants across an area of more than 70 hectares of land, which comes to around 330 m² per person. Ninety percent of families live on financial assistance, which averages 50 percent [of what is needed]; 250–300 workers are unemployed. For us, the concept of a market economy is an abstraction, since this area has more of a natural economy; nothing is produced for the market. Everything that is sold comes from Shkodra at a much higher price. Our commune is not only the smallest but also the poorest in Albania; it has no economic budget of any kind and generates no income. EDUCATION It is at the lowest level that can be accepted; 5 percent of the staff lack the relevant education, (Continued on page 2) ... is an abstraction, since this area is predominantly a subsistence economy; nothing is produced for the market. Everything sold here comes from Shkodër, at a much higher price. Our municipality generates no income. EDUCATION It is at the lowest acceptable level; 5 percent of the staff have no relevant education, (Continued on page 2)

Last weekend—as television has euphemistically taken to calling the frequent weekly meetings of senior officials throughout Albania—Prime Minister Meksi was in Elbasan. The meeting in the «Skampa» theater hall, billed as a meeting with the district’s intellectuals, was anything but: it was a conversation to «discuss problems» with state administration employees, local government chiefs, and several commune chairmen and secretaries. In trouble, the government is seeking at least the support of its own employees and their loyalty. To convince those present, the Prime Minister gave a «parade» of his government’s achievements. There was nothing worth noting in this parade, since he repeated the same things Meksi has said on television and at several meetings in other districts. Meksi’s two «new developments» in Elbasan were, first, that the people of this city should save drinking water and, second, that local officials should cooperate to bring foreign investors to Elbasan. The Prime Minister delivered these two «instructions» in an elevated style, implying that Elbasan’s officials should decide for themselves how to weigh them, since the government can do nothing for this city with its major problems, the most serious of which is unemployment. These words of the head of government were spoken precisely when, as part of the reform or restructuring, 100 workers at the road maintenance enterprise had been dismissed, and when another 135 at the cleaning and landscaping enterprise were due to be dismissed on 1 July. Put another way, Meksi came to Elbasan to inaugurate the dismissal of another 235 employees, to inaugurate the impoverishment of their families. Since this fact and others were not mentioned at the meeting, let alone solutions offered, it must be said that the Prime Minister went… (Continued on page 2)

- Greek guards open fire on an Albanian truck. Three people are killed. The well-known Greek television station ANT 1 reports that Greek border guards opened fire on an Albanian truck loaded with goods for transport to Greece. Three people are said to have been killed: the driver and his two companions in the cab. This happened on Sunday evening at a place called Kakavijë, on the Kakavijë–Janinë highway. During the searches carried out in ... 80 Albanians were found ... the Greek border guards ... had reached an agreement with the driver of ... In the vehicle, to take them to Athens ... around 120 thousand drachmas. This is the second incident in 10 days in which Greek guards have fired on two Albanian taxis ... in aland... of Macedonia ... ended tragically. A. E.

PESHKOPI So far, no auction has been held in Dibër. - Five buildings on four dynym of land are valued at 1.3 million lek (!). - No auction has been held in Dibër so far. - Five buildings on four dynym of land are valued at 1.3 million lek (!). In Friday’s RD, on page 7, the Dibër district branch of the AKP announced several properties of the Forest Exploitation Enterprise for sale, advertising them free of charge, in a ... mechanical workshop, bakery, cultural palace, the sector’s warehouses and offices, situated on a plot of land measuring 3.8 dynym ... for 1,202,077 lek. With those of them laid out in the Prati sector ... with an area of 1,925 square metres and valued at 651,400 lek ... the sector’s ... In Dibër, on the eve of the “privatization” of the large enterprises, ... A forest exploitation sector with a bakery, mechanical workshop, ... a large ... the administration offices, etc., is being sold for 1.3 million lek. A sector where more than 200 workers worked and labored for years has been reduced to the value of a room in ... for INSIG. No lengthy investigation is needed to see what has become of this country’s property. Ironically, the exploited and “devalued” property is being resold in the ruling party’s newspaper, reminding us of people’s property bought by a spendthrift who goes around squandering his father’s wealth. ABDURRAHIM ASHIKU

- Lawyer Sanxhaku says - We knew the result. From the very beginning, we showed indifference toward the panel of judges because it would not be the law and legal conscience that decided, but orders and command. The judiciary has remained dependent. The court failed to understand what we asked for. For us, every day that passes for Fatos Nano is one day too many, but the keys to the prison, as we have said, are not in Tepelenë but in Tirana. … Only the legislator, the People’s Assembly, can interpret the law. The court must order his immediate release. The presiding judge, Baftjar Shehu, took notes on Sanxhaku’s arithmetic and tried to do the calculations. Then the case file was examined, and the panel decided to end the investigation of the case. “The final request,” said Shehu. “The prosecutor, then us,” said the lawyers. “I have something to say,” the prosecutor rose from his unchanged seat. “The request is unfounded” (Continued on page 2)

Coming soon Soon Bulqiza, too, will have its own modern, privately owned fuel station. It will sell diesel, petrol, lubricating oils, etc. High-ranking central government departments and major local enterprises have contributed to its establishment. It is said that the state inspection office has also made a special contribution with its own … [unclear]. The distributor is expected to be unveiled as the greatest gift of the Party and the Government (of the PD) over the last 1,200 days. It will be listed among the important facilities built in Albania during this period. Bulqiza has much to be proud of. Although it does not have enough bread, it is happy because it has diesel, petrol and oil for cars. ALI MARINA