- The Socialist Party openly denounces the current political power as a provocateur of the country’s stability. Keeping FATOS NANO in prison is a challenge to the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the Council of Europe. Criticism Press statement of the leadership of the Socialist Party of Albania The Socialist Party views with deep concern yesterday’s vote by the People’s Assembly to lift immunity and arrest the independent deputy Mr. Zef Preçi. It considers this act irresponsible, arrogant, unconstitutional and politically destabilizing because: 1. For the first time, on the orders of high-level politics, a deputy is arrested just a few days before the start of the election campaign, which strips the final decision of any legal veil and clearly exposes it as an act of political revenge. 2. For the second time, a deputy from the ranks of the opposition is arrested without even being given the minimal possibility of parliamentary defense beforehand. In both cases, the majority acted under the pressure of political orders and not on the basis of a cool, independent analysis of the facts and arguments. It is known that in Mr. Nano’s case, in a wholly unjust and unconstitutional manner, the parliamentary majority of the time completely violated the procedure enshrined in the Constitution, a condition that is decisive for the existence of guilt or innocence. Also surprising is the recent action of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, which presented the prosecutor’s request without first referring it to the parliamentary legal commission established as a necessary link in such cases. This last-night act, which seeks to give a legal cover to extreme political arbitrariness, changes nothing in essence from the two previous acts of the majority, which were flagrantly illegal. 3. There is strong reason to suspect that once again the prosecutor’s office has been placed at the service of politics. The very request sent to Parliament, with the wholly absurd accusation that the independent deputy, Mr. Zef Preçi, insulted the president of the republic by calling him a dictator, suggests that the majority aims to criminalize the opposition on the eve of elections. To trumpet as a criminal offense a political assessment by an opponent of the head of state, especially when expressed in the relevant forum of a political party, has no precedent in civilized countries. The fact that Parliament voted to arrest the deputy without first sending the material to court to determine whether there is indeed grounds for the charge of insulting the president makes the arbitrariness of this decision even more evident. 4. Yesterday’s arrest of Mr. Zef Preçi is a far more serious event than it appears at first glance. It is a strong signal to all Albanian society that we are entering days when power will recognize no limits for its arbitrary actions. It is alarming that these actions are being taken precisely now, when the country has entered the most delicate and most important period of parliamentary elections, on which to a large extent Albania’s image in the eyes of the world depends. It must not be forgotten that the opposition’s right to have its own competitors in the electoral race is a fundamental democratic right and not a favor that the authorities grant or deny to their opponents according to their own interests. 5. The imprisonment of Mr. Fatos Nano and the arrest of Deputy Zef Preçi, beyond showing the climate of extreme political tension in the country, are a direct blow against the international democratic institutions that have called for respect for parliamentary and legal norms in Albania. Ignoring the recommendations of the Inter-Parliamentary Union regarding the Nano case and disregarding the remarks of the Council of Europe concerning the state of democracy and human rights in our country seriously compromise Albania’s international standing. The Socialist Party calls on all political and social actors in the country to react responsibly to these dangerous developments, not to accept the normalization of arbitrariness, and to defend the minimum standards of the rule of law and political pluralism. (Continued on page 5)

The World Inter-Parliamentary Union’s conflict comes to life only over the NANO case, Fatos Nano should benefit from the new criminal provisions - The appeal process is being led astray by the Minister of Justice. - Albanian nationalists want to dismiss from serious consideration the Union’s new recommendation to review the case against the former prime minister. Fatos Nano’s Mr. Zef Brozi’s conference in Geneva. Nothing new with the usual game of bluff. Their appeal is not connected to the sentence or to the conditions of his release. On 17 July 1995, the World Inter-Parliamentary Union, at its 156th session, adopted an important resolution concerning the Fatos Nano case. This resolution was carefully prepared by the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, which, after a lengthy review, concluded that the proceedings against the former Albanian prime minister had serious procedural violations and that his sentence could not be separated from the political context in which it took place. According to the Union’s decision, the Albanian authorities should take into consideration the recommendation that Fatos Nano benefit from the new provisions of criminal legislation and that the possibility of reviewing the case be examined impartially. Instead of handling this matter with the seriousness required by such an international body, certain representatives of Albanian politics have tried to relativize the resolution, presenting it as though it had nothing to do with the fundamental issue of Nano’s conviction and imprisonment. The Minister of Justice, instead of explaining how the new criminal provisions will be applied, has become involved in a game of unclear statements and political bluff, which makes the state’s official position even more obscure. Such positions clearly show that the authorities do not want to draw the consequences arising from the serious recommendations of international bodies and seek to keep the Nano case on murky propaganda ground. For public opinion, it is clear that the recommendation of the World Inter-Parliamentary Union directly concerns the proceedings against Fatos Nano and the need for their review in light of democratic and legal standards. (Continued on page 5)

After 3 years of work Power dismisses the correspondent of "Voice of America" in Tirana, Xhevet Shehu - Eliza Hoxhaj: He has not worked well in the last two years! (Continued on page 2)

Danger in Parliament Vjeshtë Andreu: The expulsion and arrest of a deputy are a sign before the legal protections (Continued on page 4)

the ASIDI process is being signed, 22 years in prison for Hoti, Xhyheri[n], Salijun and Tafiar! And the money? the ASIDI process is being signed, 22 years in prison for Hoti, Xhyherin, Salijun and Tafiar! And the money? - Lloçan from prison the former Albanian prime minister Visoni and the unwanted one after the things done by himself this morning in prison Blockade of wagons but it does not limit[a?] 3 and the house took 16 million dollars, here the scandal ma...

Yesterday, on 28.7.1995, the chairman of the Albanian Ecological Party, Mr. Namik Hoti, gave explanations at a conference, at 10:00, in the press palace. Conference and press.