- An attack on justice is an attack on the Council of Europe - - “Albania has pledged to: Guarantee the independence of the judicial system, protecting judges from arbitrary dismissal.” - From the Declaration signed at the C. E. “For some people like Brozi, their origins are a vortex that pulls them in and does not let them break away easily, especially when the ties are strong knots. So Mr. Brozi too is pulled into the vortex of the origins of his political convictions, in order to save a sinner like Nano. The Plenum will throw into the wastebasket the surreal notions of the deranged politician who has forgotten the laws and the law.” “RD” - 18 July A few days ago, the president of the Court of Cassation, Mr. Zef Brozi, filed a request for the protection of legality against the rulings of the three courts in the Nano Case. In his request, based on the report of the legal experts who studied the Nano File, a series of legal violations by the prosecution and the courts were set out—violations relating to the substance of the case and to the courts’ issuance of an unjust ruling against the chairman of the Socialist Party and MP Fatos Nano. The Court of Cassation president’s identification of these violations is nothing new, since they had been denounced many times before by Nano himself and his defense lawyers. They have also been identified and confirmed by prestigious European and international organizations, which have made several public statements on this matter. Through his action, albeit belatedly, the president of the Court of Cassation is attempting to free Albanian justice from the anxiety caused by pressure from political power over the trial of a case that has taken on international dimensions. In this way, the Plenum of the Court of Cassation may restore some of the authority and dignity of Albanian justice, so widely criticized at home and abroad for its political subordination, manifested in the handling of several court cases. When the Council of Europe and other democratic European organizations call for the genuine independence of the courts in Albania, the Nano Case is, for them, one of the key indicators of those courts’ impartiality. Every lawyer with a professional conscience understands clearly that the Nano Case is a touchstone of… (Continued on page 2)

After Qeleshi’s “attack,” accusations against him once again: The “NANO File” manipulated - PERPARIM SANXHAKU: Qeleshi is trying to exonerate himself because he is the main manipulator of the file. Arben Qeleshi, chief prosecutor of Tir... [text cut off] ... duriale and it is normal that Qele... [text cut off] ... at the Court of Appeal San... [text cut off] ... Tirana; at the Court of Appeal San... [text cut off] ... the cause and Tirana accused of ma... [text cut off]

The Albanian public is familiar with the concern of lawyers who, under a decision by the Ministry of Justice, are required to sit a professional examination. Meanwhile, convinced that this examination is more political than professional in purpose, the Vlora Bar Association decided to boycott the test. The reasons for the boycott are civic and professional in nature. Meanwhile, the information provided by Radio and TV, claiming that the examination began with the lawyers of Vlora, is not true, according to several representatives of this Association. Those who took part in the test are the smallest group of lawyers. They have violated the collegial decision of the Bar Association, although they had previously agreed with the Association’s decision to boycott these examinations. As regards the examination of lawyers, instead of resorting to propaganda, the Ministry of Justice should give priority to professional issues, without partisan prejudice. G. T.

The Pentagon continues to be the closest partner of the Albanian army in its cooperation with foreign armies. Another joint Albanian-American exercise, codenamed “Rescue Eagle,” has begun in our country. The operation is humanitarian and rescue-oriented, and aims to assist and rescue the population in the event of war and fires; it will run until 23 July. For this purpose, forces from the U.S. Sixth Fleet, deployed in the Mediterranean, had arrived in our country, along with their commander, Vice Admiral Billing, who also held a special meeting yesterday with President Berisha. For this exercise, the American forces have committed a large number of troops, estimated at up to 1,700 Marines, as well as modern equipment that will enable the exercise’s objectives to be successfully achieved. The exercise will further help train Albanian military forces to carry out peacekeeping operations successfully. A. M.

The former Korçë Knitwear Factory has long ceased to exist as such; only a few companies are operating, and even they are facing quite troubling problems. One such company is “Adelin LTD,” owned by Greek citizen Ilia Damo. For more than two weeks, its 470 employees have been on strike in protest against the owners, who have failed to pay them what they are owed for nearly two months in a row. The excuse: We are in financial difficulty. The chairwoman of the independent trade union, Irena Simaku, told “Zëri i popullit” that the owner had never been fair to the employees, but that, especially in recent months, he had not been abiding by the contract signed between the two parties at all. “As a union,” she says, “we have appealed for help to all the state authorities here in Korçë, but so far we have received no concrete assistance...” “Zëri i popullit” correspondent

Arben Qeleshi, chief prosecutor of Tirana—known to Albanians as the reader of indictments and closing arguments in major trials—reacted on Sunday against the request by Albania’s chief judge Zef Brozi, addressed to the Plenum of the Court of Cassation, to release Nano from prison or overturn his conviction. - prosecutor of Tirana—known to Albanians as the reader of indictments and closing arguments in major trials—reacted on Sunday against the request by Albania’s chief judge, Zef Brozi, addressed to the Plenum of the Court of Cassation, to release Nano from prison or overturn his conviction. The prosecutor who signed the “arrest warrant” for socialist leader F. Nano just 16 hours after his appointment has once again chosen accusations and closing arguments—not only his own in this case—to attack the legal reasoning of Albania’s chief judge. And after publicizing them, the addenda demand what has already been demanded! “The judges’ rulings in the Nano case must remain in force,” Qeleshi said several hours after Brozi called for them to be overturned. In any case, everyone knows who the “supreme authority” is in such cases. But the situation has deteriorated badly over the most discussed Albanian case in European institutions—the “Nano case”—so Qeleshi’s reaction must be understood in that context. “The Penal Code and the many procedural violations are staring him in the face, and it is normal for Qeleshi to defend himself,” a well-known lawyer closely following the case told “Zëri” yesterday. “Everything is happening just four days after Përparim Sanxhaku, Mr. Nano’s lawyer, left the office of Vincenco Barbieri, the Rome prosecutor who investigated the Italian aid case. Sanxhaku has evidence of manipulation, the disappearance of documents, and falsified testimony in the ‘Nano file,’ all of it compared with the originals in Rome.” At the end of 1993, Tirana prosecutor Qeleshi, at the head of the Albanian delegation, which also included Deputy Republic Prosecutor Mr. Fatos Dervishi, travelled to Italy as part of a “Rrogatuar” commission, considered “illegal” in Albania, to investigate the so-called “Albanian aid scandal.” The file was supplemented with testimony from senior officials of the Italian “Farnetines,” as well as an expert report from the “Corte Dei Konti” (Court of Auditors) and a Milan goods price bulletin from January 1991. But in Tirana, at the Court of Appeal, Sanxhaku and Tirana accused them of manipulating the file, removing pages from the expert report, failing to present testimony or mistranslating it to the detriment of Mr. Nano, and using fictitious price bulletins from a period unrelated to the movement of aid. None of it was taken into account. Meanwhile, Chief Judge Brozi once again pointed out procedural violations on Saturday. But Qeleshi is making accusations. “It is not true that the charge was communicated to Nano two months late, nor is it true that Nano was not familiarized with the file materials,” Qeleshi said. According to him, Nano and his lawyers abused the right granted to them by law, even though the law does not set any time limit for defendants to familiarize themselves with the file materials. However, a review of the press from the time of the trial reveals a statement to the press by Fatos Nano and his lawyers, explaining in detail when the investigation was closed and when they were given access to the file materials. Nano, Sanxhaku, and Tirana say they were shown only the first 41 pages, and even those had been manipulated; after the prosecution became annoyed, everything was stopped. It was therefore stated clearly at the time that the absence of a time limit in the Code of Criminal Procedure served Qeleshi, who could quite naturally say: Nano should review 4,000 pages of material in one hour. Everything today seems entirely motivated when one considers the allegations that the file was manipulated. Përparim Sanxhaku, “equipped” with facts and documents, says that main manipulator of the file.” Yet, while this accusation has hung over him for two years and today flies more forcefully than ever, compromising the two years of Mr. Nano’s imprisonment, Qeleshi is trying to exonerate himself. “As for the ‘verification’ that 253 pages are missing from the expert report, I can say that the report itself does not have as many pages as are said to be missing. The expert report has 406 pages. (Continued on page 2)

Another court proceeding in the case known as the “Lika File”—he was arrested in September 1994 along with three others, accused of cigarette smuggling at Kakavijë and of forging the documents of the Democratic Party MP. Another court proceeding in the case known as the “Lika File”—he was arrested in September 1994 along with three others, accused of cigarette smuggling at Kakavijë and of forging the documents of the Democratic Party MP, Arben Lika—ended with him in prison following investigations on these charges. The case went to the Tirana Court of First Instance, which found the defendant Lika guilty and sentenced him to two years in prison, suspending the remainder of the sentence. The prosecution objected to this penalty, asking the Court of Appeal to impose harsher measures; at the end of the proceedings in that court, this resulted in Lika being returned to his prison cell. At the request of the defendants, who are now three in number, including an official of the Albanian Youth Federation, the case went yesterday morning to the final level of appeal, the Court of Cassation. At the end of the proceedings, presided over by Judge Nika, the Court upheld the Court of Appeal’s ruling on the classification of the offense, but handed down “lenient” sentences; under yesterday’s ruling, Lika was sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment.

Wait until the year 2000! According to President Berisha and the self-appointed leadership of the DP, since March 22, ’92, the «Contract» has been fulfilled 100 percent, the «achievements» are extraordinary—only the village is small and there is nobody to praise them. Nevertheless, we thought that what was missing from the very long list of «successes» was the «extension» of providing citizens with passports for travel abroad. Of course, we regard the printing and issuing of new passports to citizens as a proper and modern measure. The price of a passport (1040 lekë), as well as the requirements, conditions and personal details needed to obtain one, can also be considered normal. Issuing new passports to citizens is also in keeping with one of the requirements of the law on fundamental human rights and freedoms: that everyone may leave the country and return freely. So, up to this point, everything may be considered «in order». But this order quickly turns into disorder as soon as you encounter the practical side of the process. Indeed, referring only to observations made by the Chief Courts (presumably at district level), where artificial price increases by (organizations) are also mentioned, one reaches the conclusion that the process has been organized in such a way that citizens will not be able to obtain new passports even by the year 2000! But can you enjoy the right to leave the country freely without a passport? At the counters of the police stations in the capital, beside the counters (some of which resemble mountain-tower dungeons), you encounter restrictions such as: documents are accepted on only one or two days a week, at set hours; and worst of all, no more than 25–30 passports are accepted and issued per week. But what is that for the roughly 80–90 thousand adults in a former district of Tirana? At this rate, it will take decades to meet citizens’ legitimate requests. To get into the «25–30 people per week» quota, you have to queue 24 hours in advance. But the queue is long... What more can we say? We fear being accused of misrepresenting reality, so we invite RTSH to select a camera crew to film and interview the competent officials, in order to help Albanian taxpayers, even a little, obtain new passports for travel abroad as soon as possible. Otherwise, the DP’s «Contract» with the electorate remains paralyzed.

The citizens of Vlorë had high hopes when they heard that the Government had allocated a fund of 520 million lekë (old lekë) for the reconstruction of their city’s water supply system. After a lengthy debate in the Territorial Planning Council, it even seemed that the situation would soon be resolved. In reality, there has been no change in the population’s water supply. The situation has worsened, because the funds are not being used properly. The contractor whose company won the tender has not chosen a work schedule. Nobody listens to the Water Supply Directorate in Vlorë. The funds are administered by Tirana. The tender winners are defying the water supply enterprise. Even the intervention of the district council and the Territorial Planning Council is producing no results. The city’s water supply situation is once again as it was before, especially in the outlying neighborhoods. Once again, citizens are coming down to the central neighborhoods to fill their water containers. So far, no one is taking responsibility for this situation. The Government that provided the funds looks on; those administering the funds remain indifferent; the enterprise responsible for supplying the population with water has no authority over these funds; and the citizens of Vlorë are suffering from a lack of water. G. TUSHI

Achieving their objectives with... the help of Caritas!? A few days ago, the health center in Kallmet, in the district of Lezhë, was inaugurated. State dignitaries attended the ceremony held on the occasion, including the Minister of Health, Mr. Cikuli, who was handing out inaugurations of this kind. In his turn, when it was time to greet those present at this inauguration ceremony, he called the people. The television viewers even found out about this, through a report broadcast by our TV station. Among other things, Mr. Alhimilli, delighted by the work being inaugurated, (Continued on page 2)

On Thursday, 20.07.1995, at 12:00, the General Steering Committee of the Albanian Eurosocialist Forum will meet at the PSSH headquarters in Tirana.