nr. 109 / 29 shtator 2007

The opening of the files of Security of State collaborators amongst politicians and high authorities in government is a requisite of the European Council too

Interview with the former Albanian Ambassador in Vatican, Mr. Zef Bushati

Question: Mr. Bushati, a few days ago, Mr. Ndoka, leader of the DCP, in an interview given to “Gazeta Shqiptare”, declared that DCP wants the files of collaborator of dictatorship to be opened. What’s your opinion as former leader of this Party?

Answer: Mr. Ndoka is leading a political party which is carrying no sin from the communist past and is carrying no sin during these last 17 years of democratic processes. Mr. Ndoka is leading a political party which in its statue forbids any former member of the Party of Labor and collaborators of the Security of State to become a member. In this case, the leader of the DCP, Mr. Ndoka, is executing very rigorously the program and the basic principles of the party. He is fully supported by me, as one of the founders and leaders of this party, as well as by all the leaders and members of the party.

We’ve discussed often with Mr. Ndoka the question of the former collaborators of the Security of the State infiltrated in politics or in high leading positions. In the DCP we do really prohibit by our status and we’ve often declared in the press to be against the participation in politics of the former collaborators of the Security, but some friends of ours were right saying with sarcasm: “Will your party borrow us the “instrument” you have to detect the collaborators of the Security, so that we might be able to clean our parties too?”.

We believe thus that the “instrument” is the project of law “Checking the authorities, either elected or nominated to occupy important positions in the State”, presented by the Leader of the DCP, Mr. Nard Ndoka, in the Chairman’s Office of the Albanian Parliament since October 25, 2006. It’s almost one year since the project of law prepared by Demo-Christians is “sleeping” in the Parliament’s offices. Nevertheless, we are confident that this project of law will find its way to be discussed and become a law. None of the political forces is more worthy than the DCP to strongly discuss this question.

Question: Where does your confidence relay, for this question was discussed many times without any solution?

Answer: Yes, it’s right for you to express skepticism, yet we think that this time circumstances have changed. This May, the European Council approved a Resolution requesting the condemnation of crimes of communism in the East European countries. Many of the former communist countries have ratified this resolution and have prepared laws to condemn communist crimes cleaning politics and administration offices by former communists. In some of these countries this cleansing touched the level of directors in Ministries and other institutions of the State.

Let’s come back to our country: the former Security of the State was the most important part of the communist system, so you cannot condemn the crimes of the communist system without condemning and cleansing politics from the former collaborators of Security. We don’t have in politics any former member of the Polit-Bureau, any former first secretary of the party, that people might say: “there they are, why don’t you remove them?”. The above-mentioned are not stupid, they rule in politics through their means of the former Security of the State.

Question: Do you have any concrete name?

Answer: Do you think these former collaborators of the Security now in politics and power are not known by other people, former authorities in the Internal Ministry? Of course they are. They know them very well and some of them do also have close relationships. Time after time there was also a list of nicknames allusive to politicians, circulating like a pressure.

I and Mr. Ndoka, as well as many other politicians have asked that this part of the communist nomenclature might be pushed away from politics and leading positions, obviously through a law. Is say this also because I’ve never been a collaborator of the Security of the State and I’ve entered politics by my own will, not with the charge from someone to start politics.

During these last 17 years in politics, I’ve seen and heard so much, and more the time passed, more I’m convinced that the former collaborators of the Security should be pushed away from politics and Government, otherwise this country will have no future. I know this is very difficult for this contingent is very strong and they have so much power so that it’s not difficult for them to push even me and others like me away from politics, yet temporarily because the battle is still open and I’m sure that there will be no future for them. Albania, likewise other countries of East Europe are preparing to enter in EU and NATO, which along with USA have the same negative considerations about former communists of east.

Question: What will DCP do if this law will not go in Parliament?

Answer: We believe this time it will go and there’ll be a law approved. I is also a request of the European Council to open the files for the former communists. Our deputies will try hard so that the law presented by Demo-Christians might not be formally discussed but approved as the best version that guarantees real distance from the communist past. Even DP and SP presented a project of law each, but I think these two political forces will try to approve a formal law that will not condemn properly the communist past giving protection to many categories of the former communist nomenclature and that of the former Security of the State, while DCP guarantees integrity, impartiality and transparency.

Interview by Sokol Pepushaj

In serious danger for desertion

The last events speak of terrorism in Kosovo. The great explosion in a bar of Prishtina, four days ago, where two people died and other 11 were wounded, have aggravated the situation.We were going toward the village of Bratush of Gjakovë to learn about the destiny of Sabri Kuçi, who’s family is lost since the time of the crisis in Kosovo. His neighbors told us that Sabri Kuçi his wife, Belkize, and his son, Arjan, traveled toward Albania during the crisis and they never came back. None knows either they’re alive or dead.
According to the investigations, Alban Kuçi, one of the sons of Sabri, was a soldier during the crisis and had deserted going somewhere toward occidental countries. One of his fellow peasants, who wants to remain anonymous, as he fears for his life, gave us this picture of Alban Kuçi. We came to know his father was member of the KLA, but his son escaped fearing that the KLA would kill him. After his son desertion, the KLA attempts to kill even Sabri, who left his land. There are many cases when the KLA killed even its’ own members.
This is one of the many families destroyed in Kosovo. Statistics are shocking. About 4.000 Kosovars are considered lost. Common cemeteries are found every day. Terror in Kosovo is powerful today, either in midday, or in midnight. Vasel Gilaj