The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights is also closely monitoring how the state is dealing with the current evidence against Rustem Gjata, President of the Constitutional Court. In December 1995, Gjata, a judge for a period under the communist regime, was accused of ordering the execution of a Catholic priest who had been convicted of treason for attempting to escape Albania in 1973. The prosecutor in the case sought a 15-year prison sentence, but Gjata apparently increased the sentence to death. (Under the Criminal Code of the communist period, treason was punishable by imprisonment or death.) The family of the priest, Father Gjoni, filed its request with the General Prosecutor’s Office in December, but by February 1996 no action had been taken. Under Albanian law, the prosecutor is not required to take legal action. Nevertheless, given the seriousness of the testimony, the importance of Gjata’s position, and the current wave of opposition to communist punishments, a response from the Prosecutor’s Office would be desirable. (Page 42 of the original English-language material) Human Rights Watch/Helsinki Human Rights in Post-Communist Albania Page 5

Interview of the British Ambassador in Tirana, Mr. Andew Tesoriere, with “Zëri i popullit” Page 9

Tirana — Yesterday at midday at the PSSH headquarters, Socialist Party Vice-Chairman Namik Dokle and its presidium member, MP Et’hem Ruka, received and met with representatives of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the American National Democratic Institute, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, deputy representatives Gerald Mitchell, Jonaf Rolett, Paul S. De-gregorio, and Ms. Alisia Alison, the American Democratic Institute’s representative for Albania. At the start of the meeting, PSSH Vice-Chairman Namik Dokle highly praised the cooperation to date with these organizations, calling for this cooperation to be intensified for the good of Albanian democracy. “We seek and hope that this cooperation will continue, because Albanian democracy is taking its first steps and, from the perspective of building it as well as possible,” Dokle said. “This is necessary because, on our part, it is a matter of experience,” he continued, “and partly because of someone’s desire to rule alone in the country’s political life, many distortions have occurred.” Mr. Namik Dokle and Et’hem Ruka then answered the American interlocutors’ questions about the Electoral Law, the Anti-Genocide Law, the Law on the Vetting of Public Figures, and the Constitutional Court, providing detailed explanations. Dokle and Ruka described these laws as anti-democratic and unconstitutional, and stated that the PD needed them in order to ensure that it could avoid a crushing defeat. The meeting discussed the need for training and technical preparation for election commissions and observers at every level. The necessity of having foreign observers present during the upcoming elections in Albania was also discussed. Correspondent of “Zëri i Popullit”

From the discussions at the Second Congress of the PSSH Pages 2–3 Pile-up: Glozhëni with Rushen and Tomorr Golemi Page 4 The American dimensions of the media Pages 8–9 From the visit to Tirana by German Defense Minister Ruhe Page 7

TV Dum baba Page 6