One of the largest joint military exercises conducted across all the countries of Central and Eastern Europe has concluded. The conclusion of the joint exercise “Sarex 95-2” was accompanied by analyses held yesterday at every level. These analyses highlighted the good work carried out by all the participants, and the high level of cooperation and coordination of activities in the numerous operations conducted was commended. Particular note was also made of the responsible and effective contribution made to the exercise by the American specialists. A joint ceremony was also held on the occasion of its conclusion, attended and addressed by the Chief of the General Staff of the Army, General Sheme Komova. In his address, he conveyed his thanks, also on behalf of Defense Minister Zhual, describing the American soldiers as missionaries of peace in our country. In his remarks, he praised the good and effective cooperation between our two armies and commended the experience and ca- (Continued on page 4)

The judiciary in the shackles of political power

Another scandal in the Albanian judiciary, the latest in a series, but this time under the threat of hundreds of police gun barrels. Once again, the “Nano file” forces Albanian justice to be trampled to such an extent that even the most optimistic person—who thought that after Albania’s accession to the Council of Europe everything in this country would change, at least with regard to respecting citizens’ freedoms and rights—is astonished. Yesterday, the Court of Appeal once again put its name on the side of those whom injustice or violation of the law links to the “Nano file.” The all-consuming confusion that had gripped the second-instance court since Monday came to an end yesterday, when the pale judge Fatos Qato managed to announce, surrounded by hundreds of Albanian police guns, how much prison time remained for the leader of Albania’s largest opposition party, Fatos Nano. “Two years, 11 months and 25 days,” Qato pronounced as the prison term remaining for the opposition leader. The countdown is on until July 26, when the Cassation plenary will consider the Albanian chief prosecutor’s request for Fatos Nano’s acquittal and release; when one considers that at most three weeks later the Cassation Court will again hear Nano’s request to overturn yesterday’s ruling; when one considers that Nano will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights stronger than ever, backed by 130 countries of the world assembled in the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and by the Italian judiciary. In any case, here is the chronicle of yesterday’s scandal at the Court of Appeal, placed yesterday under the pressure of the state’s guns. Scandal! The judicial panel is changed just one hour before the hearing “Will the doors of Bënça open? Everything happens this morning. Meanwhile, an RD-ist, with a turd on his head, seems to have the guts, and every two days suffers what is known in the trade as ‘prostat’—that is, the representative of the authorities sets the line of conduct for the Court of Appeal judges; “Nano is a thief; the Italian judiciary can’t help him.” But even so, this is not something unprecedented. On Thursday, the Secretariat of the Court of Appeal informed the interested public that the judicial panel that would hear the case against Mr. Fatos Nano today would be presided over by Ms. Luljeta Petani. Yet that same morning, well-informed sources inside the Court confirmed that several judges had refused to preside over today’s trial. But the night had been long and miat'l useful for dark deeds. It was 9:20, and in the courtroom where they were to…

— Interview with PS Deputy Chairman Servet Pëllumbi — The series of political trials concerning the Nano case continues. Albanian justice continues to grovel under the tutelage of Berisha’s power. People thought that now, after Albania’s accession to the Council of Europe, decisions in cases such as the Nano case would be made in the courtroom and not in villas as before. But that did not happen. Although the prosecution called for justice—which is what makes today’s trial exceptional—the judges, who were replaced this morning, handed down a predetermined ruling, which they announced with their heads bowed. To tell the truth, this time we hoped for [unclear], but Berisha’s arithmetic does not even take the articles of the new Penal Code into account. And we, along with PS Chairman Fatos Nano, will continue to insist not merely on his innocence, but on establishing a genuine state governed by the rule of law and eradicating the institution of political revenge. Albanian democracy needs profound emancipation, an emancipation that, it seems, will be difficult to achieve without passing through new solutions, through a new political solution.

. I can say that it is a ruling with no legal basis whatsoever. It is a cudgel’s ruling, not a specialist’s. The Court of Appeal acknowledges that the decision of the Tepelenë Court is unjust and unfounded, yet it cannot make a second assessment different from the one made by the district court when it declared him guilty—the Court of Appeal and the Court of Cassation upheld the district court’s decision. What happened was a charade, and that was understood. The fact that hundreds of police officers had surrounded the Court of Appeal made it clear that the Court of Appeal would not deliver a just ruling. Likewise, the fact [that it] could not make any other calculation, could not add any other aggravating circumstance, except those examined by the trial court, the Court of Appeal, and the Court of Cassation when Fatos Nano was sentenced. the judicial panel announced it would issue its decision in ten minutes, then withdrew and announced the decision five hours later, shows that they did not make the decision according to their own judgment and legal conscience. Someone else interfered in the final decision concerning Fatos Nano. We will continue our struggle, as we have until now, until we defeat the dragon of injustice. I can say that this is a decision with no legal basis whatsoever. It is a decision made by a thug, not a specialist. The Court of Appeal acknowledges that the Tepelenë court’s decision is unjust and unfounded in law, and then, when it comes to making the calculations, in violation of the principles of criminal law, it performs the calculations and declares him guilty, sentencing him to nine years’ imprisonment for misappropriation of state property and two years and several months for falsifying official documents, making a total of 11 years’ imprisonment. What the Court of Appeal has done contradicts the principles of criminal law, since the Court of Appeal

Many believe in “freedom for Fatos Nano.” Someone else asks whether… …that the confusion in the Court of Appeal, which had been [unclear] Albanian police guns, how many years of prison Nano. “Two years, 11 months and 25 days”—Qato pronounced the prison time remaining for Fatos prison time remaining for Fatos Nano. Na- [unclear], unbelievable or absurd when one considers that only four days…

Fatos Nano, Fatos Nano! We want Fatos Nano. These were among the Euro-socialists who, just two hours after the Court of Appeal’s decision in Tirana, took to the streets in support of Albania’s largest opposition leader, Fatos Nano, once again demanding his immediate release from prison. Fatos Nano, Fatos Nano! We want Fatos Nano. These were among the chants of the Euro-socialists, who, just two hours after the Court of Appeal’s decision in Tirana, took to the streets in support of Albania’s largest opposition leader, Fatos Nano, once again demanding his immediate release from prison. Representatives of the Socialist Party of Albania, Servet Pëllumbi, chairman of the Albanian Euro-Socialist Forum Ilir Meta, and more than 500 Euro-socialists once again expressed their strong solidarity with the chairman of Albania’s PS, Fatos Nano, demanding that his release be secured and that he be freed from the threat of political revenge, materialized in imprisonment in Bënça, Tepelenë. Meta, Pëllumbi and the representatives of Tirana’s Euro-socialists called for respect for the commitments undertaken by Albania, represented by Parliament Speaker Arbnori, on 29 [unclear] in Strasbourg. Fulfillment of these commitments will be verified on August 20, also in Strasbourg. We will report more extensively on this meeting in tomorrow’s issue.

From Prosecutor Skënder Demiri’s statement at the appeal trial as well A complex analysis of the court’s decision, the requests and the relevant legal provisions of the new Criminal Code and Law No. 7942, dated 31.5.1995, shows that the decision of the Tepelenë District Court concerning the convicted Fatos Nano is unjust and contrary to Law No. 7942, dated 31.5.1995, and must therefore be overturned, with the case heard by the Tirana Court of Appeal, for the following reasons: 1. The convicted Fatos Nano is not covered by Article 2 of Law 7942, dated 31.5.1995, but by Articles 5 and 8 of this law. Article 2 covers all those convicted who: a. have been convicted of a criminal offense and given a sentence exceeding the maximum penalty under the New Criminal Code, and whose sentence is reduced to the maximum prescribed in the New Criminal Code. b. Persons who have served the maximum sentence prescribed in the New Criminal Code are released immediately. These two paragraphs of Article 2 do not fall within the competence of the prison administration court, and only when a convicted person claims that the law has not been implemented does that person have the right to petition the court. Under Article 11 of Law 7942, dated 31.5.1995, the court is required to issue a decision within five days of the submission of the request, applying the general rule. Thus, the Tepelenë District Court errs in its reasoning by placing this matter within the competence of the prison administration. 2. The defendant Fatos Nano, convicted of two criminal offenses simultaneously and sentenced under two provisions that have been substantially relaxed by the new Criminal Code compared with the previous provisions, belongs to the group of persons covered by Article 8 of Law 7942, dated 31, 5, 1992, which states: «If a person has been convicted of two or more criminal offenses under the rules for combining sentences, and if the Criminal Code no longer considers even one of those offenses to be an offense, or prescribes a lighter sentence, the case shall be reviewed, upon the immediate request of the prison administration, by the district court where the sentence is being served, which shall combine the sentences under the rules of this Code.» In view of this article, the corresponding provisions of the New Criminal Code that define criminal offenses

A few minutes before the trial was due to begin, I learned that changes had been made to the composition of the panel, with two members replaced. Deputy Namik Dokle told me that this was no longer about justice. These are Prel Martini’s obedient soldiers. He demonstratively left the courtroom before the trial began. The court’s decision itself confirmed beyond doubt just how independent these representatives of Albanian justice were. These judges, like their chairman, have presided over or been responsible for panels that issued rulings openly deemed unlawful by the Court of Cassation. And not a hair on their heads has been touched. There have been cases when even the prosecution has remained silent. What can one expect from a panel that retires to deliberate and, ten minutes later, returns to the courtroom and says the decision will be announced at 16:00? The decision they made to reduce Fatos Nano’s remaining sentence was utterly laughable, especially in comparison with the dignified representation provided by prosecutor Skënder Demiri. He assessed the case with professional competence, carefully analyzing all the circumstances. His request for Fatos Nano’s release was greeted with applause in the courtroom, whereas the panel’s decision was delivered by the rapporteur, Prel Martini’s close friend, Mr. Beqiri. Surely these judges must be ashamed of themselves for the decision they handed down. They are professionally qualified and experienced judges, so everything they did was done knowingly, not out of ignorance. This decision was preceded, for the second time, by the Ministry of Justice. First, it urgently organized a seminar in Tirana and forced the Tepelenë prison administration to withdraw from the district court its registered request seeking Fatos Nano’s release; and now it directed the Tirana District Court to issue an unjust decision. Fatos Nano, meanwhile, was not present in the courtroom. The final decision was being withdrawn by the police, using force and equipment, at the moment it was announced. The same scene was witnessed when the Court of Cassation announced its decision, upholding the two decisions of the lower courts. What was the purpose of their deployment at a time when there were no detainees?

A REMINDER TO PARLIAMENT Although the representative of the DP, Mr. Balla, was said to have taken positions that were highly politicized, every effort was made to discredit these dismissals and “pin them on the Socialist Party.” The facts show who the decent people are and who the perpetrators of these punishable acts are. The “Balla blockade,” launched amid noise and attacks, has its own authors. This is also how one can explain the silence that was “maintained after those bombardments” in the parliamentary chamber, which died down right there. The question arises: are those in power interested in the truth about those events, who was responsible for them, who should be held accountable, and who organized all those actions? The report presented to Parliament by Mr. Balla and published in two consecutive issues of RD gives the impression that they would be extremely zealous in pursuing matters to the end. (This would have exposed his prejudice, which would have served to frame this matter as part of an attack on the Socialist Party.) But no one can prove, Mr. Balla, that the Socialist Party inspired those bandit-like actions. They were all the instigators of these dismissals. That is why there is silence today about a report that once caused such a stir. BERTASH ZENELI Seven months ago, on December 22, 1994, a lengthy report was presented to Parliament by deputy Sadedin Balla, acting as chairman of a commission tasked with verifying the declarations made in the final years of 1991 and the beginning of 1992 in the districts of Pukë, Peqin, Lushnjë, Pogradec and Kurbin. After Mr. Balla’s report was heard in Parliament, it was decided that a report for the deputies would be submitted during January 1995 by the Prosecutor General, Mr. Alush Dragoshi, and that parliamentary debate would continue afterward. A full seven months have passed, and there has still been no report on this matter

All Albanian journalists are invited to participate in this contest by submitting their work according to the following criteria: - The article must address national cultural issues. - The article must have been published in the Albanian press during 1995. - The deadline for submitting articles to the Velija Foundation is October 15, 1995. - Each journalist may submit only one article to the contest. - The jury for this contest, made up of the Velija Foundation’s Advisory Board, will be announced in the press shortly. There are three Velija Journalism Awards: first prize of 1,000 dollars; second prize of 500 dollars; and third prize of 300 dollars. The awards will be announced in November 1995. VELIJA FOUNDATION, TIRANA — ALBANIA