The operation to eliminate criminals continues Agif and Kadri Brahim Lika fire at the police and are killed on the spot. They were highly wanted individuals The operation to eliminate criminals continues POLICE KILL TWO MORE BANDITS IN BURREL Agif and Kadri Brahim Lika fire at the police and are killed on the spot. They were highly wanted individuals

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Who leaves ... Yesterday in Tirana, a ceremony was held to accompany to his final resting place the police officer who died the day before yesterday when a helicopter crashed on the outskirts of the capital during an anti-crime operation. Many of his fellow police officers stood out in the funeral procession, just as the indifference of passers-by created a distressing feeling. Naturally, Tirana today is a large city, where events, whether good or bad, often eclipse one another. But the death of a police officer in the line of duty, with a weapon in hand fighting criminals, can in no way be a painful event that passes by easily. It is much more than that. The police officer is the guardian of our lives, our families, and our property. Whether we are working or sleeping, he is always watchful; when we are shaken by a crime, he risks his life in pursuit of the criminal; when order needs to be restored, the police officer is called upon, when ... The police officer is the embodiment of the state, whether it functions well or poorly. The state is strong when it has a strong police force. In this regard, the loss of a police officer is not like the loss of an ordinary citizen. And this is not simply because police officers give their lives in the “flower of youth,” but because they give them for profoundly noble human causes. Yesterday another police officer left us. His name was Fadil Avdushi. He left behind a four-month-old daughter who will never know her father, but who will always remember with pride that her father died in the line of duty. By honoring the service of police officer Fadil Avdushi, who joins the ranks of the Police’s fallen heroes, we honor our struggle for a normal state, for order, security, and peace; we honor today’s Albania, full of challenges, and the Albania of tomorrow, where surely everyone will answer only to the law. Standing guard over this state are our sons and brothers in blue uniforms. That is why it is right for us to speak up and support, even morally, the actions of a dozen police officers in Shkodër, who demonstrate against criminals and demand that they be punished, as in Vlorë. But it is also very right when we stop in the street and bow before the lifeless body of an ordinary police officer. He did everything he could for us. ... and who is coming? Late yesterday evening it became known in Tirana that a police chief for Vlorë had been found in the capital. We were very glad, especially when we learned his name. He is our friend, and shortly beforehand his scolding of our journalist in Korçë over the telephone could easily have been classified by a court as a threat against a person. No one is doing that, also because we did not have the courage to tell a judge. As a result, our names were bandied about in every Tirana club where this police officer spent all three meals of the day. He is called “General” Besnik Bregu. He is the only one in this line of work, and all those who nominate him—in cycles—say that he is highly capable in the fight against crime. He is one of those who became the terror of thieves of Chinese bicycles, who were themselves wanted in order to escape some political accusation, since the matter involved the name of great China. This reputation led to the police officer in question being proposed year after year as an “iron hand.” About a year ago, the “iron hand” reached the top of the Albanian police when he was appointed Director General of Police. How much he frightened crime can be established quite easily by looking at the crime figures for that period. He soon left this pinnacle after leading the police operation in Lazarat, Gjirokastër, in which 9 special forces police officers were wounded and not a single criminal was. His reputation was restored a few days after the serious incident, when he was appointed director of the Korçë Prefecture police. He remained in this position for several months, and by looking at the crime figures in that prefecture during his tenure. Nevertheless, because of rumors of prosecutorial significance circulating among the people of Korçë—including those in the police special services and intelligence—about him, he was removed from that position. We wrote about some of them in the newspaper. The new Prime Minister Majko then dismissed this kind of police officer, but Minister Koçi appointed him commissioner of one of Tirana’s districts. At a meeting of the Ministry of Public Order, Majko then asked why this appointment had been made. No one told him. How much this kind of police officer frightened crime in District No. 3 can again during his tenure. That’s it! So, who leaves and who comes in? The difference between the two cases above is very great. What is striking, considering only the second case, is that a path has been created for the nominators in the Ministry of Public Order, whose feet keep moving constantly, sometimes climbing up and sometimes going down, in a cycle that begins and ends with them nominating one another. The cycle revolves around some 20 police officers who are now the most talked-about people in Albania, exclusively in cities with customs posts. This network keeps watch on every minister in connection with appointments. Minister Poçi must have the courage to dismantle it by turning his attention to some young, brave men, who even give their lives to protect the lives and property of every citizen. But he must not lay a hand on them. Those who are continually recycled have never put their lives at risk. Otherwise, they would not be puffed up more and more with each passing day and each new appointment. After this, we await the next threats.

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