Enthusiasm and solidarity among the socialists at Tirana’s large rally CHRONICLE Speech by the Deputy Chairman of the SP, Dr. SERVET PELLUMBI Around 5,000 Tirana socialists, who gathered yesterday evening in the Sports Palace hall and its outdoor area, protested for an hour and a half against the violation of human rights and the imprisonment of the man they want to see free, the only prisoner of conscience in all of Europe, the leader of the socialist opposition, Fatos Nano. The composition of the hall—the Euro-socialist majority—immediately conveyed a symbol, message and meaning for the socialists at the entrance: «GO WEST»—toward the West. The hall, full 45 minutes before the scheduled time for the rally, was singing songs. But the waves of London radio had reached the ears of thousands of people here, and the news that the world’s largest human-rights organization had called for Fatos Nano’s release, describing him as a prisoner of conscience, in a letter addressed to Berisha, prompted them to shout «Freedom—Democracy», «Down with the Dictatorship», «We will win». The arrival in the hall of socialist leaders, Dr. Servet Pellumbi, Dr. Agolli, Namik Dkcle, Ilir Meta, Gramoz Ruçi, Emerlinda Meksi, Zabit Brokaj, Musa Ulqini, as well as representatives of the Internatio- Members and sympathizers of the SP from the Capital. Dear friends and guests. We are here together today to express our legitimate concerns about the danger threatening Albanian democracy, and to express our solidarity with the Chairman of our Party, comrade Fatos Nano, who for two years has been suffering, completely innocently, the consequences of the political revenge of the Berisha regime! It is this same regime that in recent days has not stopped even at the most absurd falsifications and amendments to the codes, in order to keep Fatos Nano in prison still longer. Allow me, from this rally, to say together to Berisha and the officials around him who obey him blindly: you are entirely at odds with the logic of democracy; with the paths you are following, you cannot break Fatos Nano, you cannot isolate and divide the SP, you cannot diminish its prestige and its massive support among the Albanian electorate. We will win! Fatos Nano will soon be free! This is in keeping with the objective course of Albanian democracy, which is moving forward. It is moving continuously toward a new political solution, one that will emerge from the coming elections which, whether the officials like it or not, are not far away and will have the SP as their main protagonist. This will be a victory for the opposition forces that want to unblock Albanian politics and put an end to a dictatorial manner of governing; a victory for those who want to end chaos, corruption, the plundering of national wealth, the absence of stability and social peace; a victory for those who want the normal, uninterrupted development of reforms, for those who want a state governed by the rule of law and Albania’s genuine, dignified integration into Euro-Atlantic structures, for those who want lasting friendship with the USA and other democratic countries, who prioritize good neighborly relations and a visionary, active foreign policy in the interests of our national cause. The efforts of today’s officials and their official propaganda to portray a possible SP victory as a return to the past and the trampling of the rights of owners and businesspeople, as a new isolation of Albania that would even close the roads for Albanians living abroad to visit their homeland, are lies from beginning to end. Anyone who knows the SP as it really is and without prejudice—the seriousness of its organizational structures, its political line and the alternative it represents, its readiness to cooperate with other political forces, and the support it has won abroad through its constructive positions—understands clearly why, in its regard, a strategy of tension and continual provocation continues to be pursued. We are here today to denounce such a strategy, whose first sparks are being attacked and crushed savagely. 2. Let justice take its course; let the independence of the judiciary be respected. 3. Put an end to systematic violations of freedoms and human rights, particularly those of the opposition and those who think differently. We demand that the officials honor the commitments made in the name of all Albanians when Albania was admitted to the Council of Europe. 4. Put an end to political revenge and the imprisonment of SP Chairman Fatos Nano. While Mr. Berisha and his clique undertake such actions, the world’s most prestigious organizations are rising to defend our Party’s Chairman. Today the BBC reported that «Amnesty International» has sent a letter to Mr. Berisha describing Fatos Nano as a prisoner of conscience and calling for his release. On this occasion, we express our thanks to Amnesty International and international institutions for the support they have given to Albanian democracy, the defense of human rights and the Nano cause. Let this rally and these… Long live the people of the Capital and all Albania! Long live the Socialist Party of Albania. Tirana, 2.08.1995 …prompted them to shout «Freedom [unclear]», «Down with the Dictatorship», «We will lower its pressure and want the normal, uninterrupted development of a [text unclear], this imperium has taken over the government, which makes decisions and issues decrees according to the edicts of one person and one clan; this imperium has taken over the judicial system, which is commanded solely by a chief judge in a black crow’s robe. The chief judge drafts laws to suit the opponents he intends to punish, as he does by amending the Criminal Code expressly and deliberately to keep our dear comrade Fatos Nano in prison, the great fighter for a civilized democracy and a humane socialism. The [text unclear] rallies, protests and efforts to secure the release of Fatos Nano, Chairman of the Socialist Party, are a struggle for citizens’ democracy. The struggle for democracy at this historic moment is closely bound up with the struggle for Fatos Nano’s release. crayfish! Pëllumbi, Dritëro Agolli, Namik Dekle, as well as representatives of the Socialist Youth International and the Labour youth organizations of Ireland and the Netherlands, heightened the hall’s enthusiasm, which burst out for a few moments in song and greetings to the National Anthem. Amid chants of “The Left will win,” “We want Fatos Nano,” and “Eurosocialists,” Musa Ulqini, Chairman of the Tirana PS, addressed the hall: “Yesterday, earlier, we gathered for the last time in this hall to say No to Berisha’s personal rule, expressed so clearly in his draft constitution. Our powerful No, which rang out so loudly in this hall, later echoed throughout Albania and brought the opposition’s historic victory on November 6. Today,” Ulqini continued, “we have gathered here again to say no to the two illegal and unconstitutional amendments that the Albanian parliament passed in recent days with votes only from PD deputies, with the aim of closing every case concerning Nano. Our powerful protest is directed first and foremost at Sali Berisha, the real instigator of these unlawful changes. We insistently demand that President Berisha abandon political revenge and retaliation,” Musa Ulqini said. Next, PS Chairman Dr. Servet Pëllumbi was warmly applauded by thousands of people as he called for broader freedoms for Albanian democracy and the immediate release of Fatos Nano. Meanwhile, the master of Albanian letters, the Socialist Dritëro Agolli, after characterizing today’s state as a “crayfish stove,” addressed the hall: “We have gathered here to demand democracy, to demand the release of our comrade Fatos Nano, who, even from Bënça prison, is fighting for democracy just as we are.” The hall, seething and growing ever more enthusiastic, erupted (Continued on page 4) the PS; you cannot [unclear in source]. Abroad, through its constructive positions, it is clear why the PS is under attack, and why a strategy of deliberate and persistent tension and provocation continues to be pursued against it. We are here today to denounce such a strategy, which runs counter to our national interests and to the situation in the region. We are here today to present a program of democratic demands that contribute to the country’s stability and social peace. We demand: 1. The annulment of the arbitrary changes made to the Code of Criminal Procedure by the PD parliamentary majority under the dictates of political power. We ask the President not to promulgate the antidemocratic laws passed on July 26 and 28.

«Amnesty International» writes to the President of Albania, Sali Berisha: The world’s largest organization for the protection of human rights and freedoms, «AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL», calls on President Berisha to release the socialist leader, FATOS NANO. Another strong reaction from international organizations concerning the case of the socialist opposition leader, Fatos Nano. This time it is and freedoms», «Amnesty International», which, in a letter received yesterday, called on the President of the Republic of Albania, Sali Berisha, to «Release the socialist leader, Fatos Nano.» «Amnesty International» states that «Fatos Nano has neither committed nor supported violence and that, for this reason, he is a prisoner of conscience.» Thus, the offices of this Albanian [text unclear] have, for the first time, received from a human-rights organization the strongest reaction and the most condemnatory description of the actions of the Tirana regime toward the leader of Albania’s largest opposition party, Fatos Nano. Although «Amnesty» says in its letter to the head of the regime, Sali Berisha, that «in the case of Fatos Nano, the charges against him were politically motivated and there were also many violations of legal procedures during the trial», this had previously been stated by Amnesty itself and by other organizations defending human rights and freedoms, such as «Human Rights Watch», or organizations of another kind, such as the World Inter-Parliamentary Union. But for the first time, a non-governmental and non-Albanian organization has, in the second year of his imprisonment, described Fatos Nano as a «prisoner of conscience». Three months after his arrest in October 1993, Fatos Nano, Chairman of the PS-SH, sent a public letter to senior representatives of the Diplomatic Corps in Tirana, in which, after setting out arguments explaining the reasons for his arrest, he stated: All these reasons taken together for my violent arrest show that I am a prisoner of conscience… Although 21 months later, this condemnatory description of the Berisha regime has arrived in Tirana and at the same time in all the major European chancelleries, the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, the World Inter-Parliamentary Union, and others. Yesterday we were unable to learn President of the Republic Sali Berisha’s reaction, while the «Amnesty International» letter has arrived at a delicate moment. Just two days ago, members of the Albanian Parliament asked Berisha, through a Memorandum, for «the annulment of the tendentious amendments made to the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure in the service of political revenge» and for the release from prison of PSH Chairman Fatos Nano. This was also connected with Parliament’s approval of a questionable legislative initiative signed by Prime Minister Meksi, which deprived Fatos Nano of the right to continue the trial before the Plenum of the Court of Cassation and of the right to have his sentence reviewed by the Court of Cassation, which would have meant his release. The actions denounced in Parliament as «intended to keep Nano in prison even longer» took place immediately after the presentation of documents from the Rome Court supporting Fatos Nano’s innocence and the denunciation of the highest officials of the Albanian Prosecutor’s Office as being involved in crimes related to the Nano case. And while this was happening in Ti- (Continued on page 3) Three months after the arrest of the torturer [sic] 1993—Fatos Nano, Chairman of the PS-SH, addresses in Tirana, in which, after…

At last, it is very important that a prestigious organization such as Amnesty International speaks about what the Socialist Party has been saying for two years, so that the truth about Fatos Nano may also penetrate all government and judicial bodies—as the truth of a prisoner of conscience, the truth about a prisoner held hostage for political reasons because he is and remains the number-one opponent of Albania’s current President, Berisha. I consider this letter that Amnesty International is sending to Berisha very important, but I do not know whether Mr. Berisha will read it, understand it and appreciate it.

Dear comrades, It is regrettable that democracy in Albania is moving like a crayfish. You know that a crayfish or crab walks sideways or backward. Parliamentarianism is a crayfish, the government is a crayfish, justice is a crayfish. These three branches of power are three great crayfish that have taken over the field of democracy, moving sideways or backward. This backward crawl of the crayfish aims to reach a finish line: the finish line of dictatorship and tyranny, and then on toward imperialism in politics, economics and culture. Being small, as our country is, does not mean that one cannot have imperialism. The Latin word imperium means power. This reactionary imperium in Albania has taken over Parliament, which produces laws at the dictate of a pasha and another clan, even if that person is the President of the Republic. They are bl… In this struggle Fatos Nano is also a fighter, a true Spartacus and a leader of rare courage and wisdom, whose voice, reaching through the prison walls, makes the new rulers tremble and keeps them awake all night drafting special laws to extend his strikes and days in solitary confinement. Therefore, the time has come for us to unite, raise our voices higher and fight democratically to stop democracy from walking backward like a crayfish. Let us tell parliamentarianism: do not walk like a crayfish; let us tell the government: do not govern like a crayfish; let us tell justice: do not judge like a crayfish! And in the next elections to the People’s Assembly, let the Great Crayfish no longer direct today’s three crayfish; let it be left without crayfish!

One month to hear the request, two months to issue the decision . …convinced that the Chairman of the Council of State can never be dismissed by a decree of the President of the Republic. They are also convinced that the Council itself is the only body that can dismiss its chairman, just as it elects him. Only the Constitutional Court does not … (Continued on page 4) In June, the district councils of Për and Shkodër asked the Constitutional Court to declare incompatible the decrees issued by the President of the Republic dismissing the chairmen of their district councils. These councils, recognizing their powers under the law on the organization and functioning of local government, do not agree (nor is there any reason why they should agree) to have their powers taken away by org…

Press conference by members of the Supervisory Board of the Albanian-American Fund. The $30 million fund established by the American Government will serve to encourage the private sector in Albania. At the International Press Center in Tirana, the Fund’s Office Director was introduced, along with members of the Supervisory Board of the Albanian-American Fund. The Albanian-American Enterprise Fund was established by the Government of the United States of America to encourage investment in Albania’s private sector. The Fund will have the right to make investments and provide loans and, if necessary, provide technical assistance to promote new projects, enterprises and privatizations. Particular emphasis will be placed on medium-sized and small enterprises, as well as joint ventures involving American and other foreign investors together with Albanian partners. The Fund is based in New York. The members of the Fund’s Supervisory Board, prominent figures in the American financial sector, were appointed by President Bill Clinton at the beginning of this year. Yesterday in Tirana, at the International Press Center, during the ceremony introducing the Fund’s Office Director, members of the Supervisory Board of the Albanian-American Enterprise Fund held a press conference for journalists. Mr. Domenik G. Scaglione, Chairman of the Board, announced the appointment of Mr. David T. Gentry as Director of the Fund’s Office in Tirana. Mr. Gentry, who has been an adviser at the Ministry of Finance since 1992, will begin work on 14 August 1995. Before being appointed to the Ministry of Finance in Tirana, Mr. Gentry was Deputy Director of the Budget Office in the State of Alaska, America. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University and received a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as an MBA from the University of Chicago. «We are very pleased…» (Continued on page 2)