Albania refuses "foreign investigations"

7 August 2009 10:20 -> 17:04 Source: FoNet, Beta, Tanjug

TIRANA, BELGRADE -- Officials in Albania have told Council of Europe's Dick Marty that "there can be no organ trade probe based on accusations of Carla Del Ponte or Belgrade".The CoE rapporteur has been appointed to investigate allegations that first appeared in the former chief Hague prosecutor's book, and were later probed by the Serbian War Crimes Prosecution.

The prosecution believes that in 1999, hundreds of Kosovo Serb civilians were kidnapped in the province by the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and taken to northern Albania where their organs were removed before they were killed. "Only the Albanian prosecution has a right to carry out an investigation in the territory of Albania," Albanian Minister of Justice Enkeled Alibeaj told Marty, according to an RTV 21 report.

According to the same television, the rapporteur replied, "I refuse to believe that it is true, but I would like that issue investigated". The same source says that the Albanian minister then said that he refuses to answer the request from the Serbian Ministry of Justice, "because it is about untrue pretensions for which there is no proof". Alibeaj also told the Swiss CoE official that "no foreign citizen can conduct procedural investigative actions in the Albanian territory."

"An investigation can be launched only by the Albanian prosecution based on requests coming from other countries. In that case the prosecution undertakes all actions to clear up the issue." According to the television, a similar conversation took place when Marty met with Interior Minister Bujar Nisani and representatives of Albania's state prosecution. Alibeaj also said that Albanian institutions' official position related to the investigation was expressed in the Albanian state prosecution's replay to the Serbian request in October 2008. Meanwhile in Priština, the Kosovo Council for Protection of Human Rights has asked the Kosovo Albanian government in that town to file a lawsuit against Del Ponte.

The council says that the former chief Hague Tribunal prosecutor "launched lies" in her book "The Hunt", published last year, "in which KLA was accused of kidnapping Serbs and trading in their organs in Kosovo and northern Albania". "No surprise"Labor Minister Rasim Ljajić, who heads Serbia's National Council for Cooperation with the Hague, said on Friday that he is not surprised at the fact that the Albanian authorities have declined to cooperate with Council of Europe (CoE) rapporteur Dick Marty.

"Unfortunately, that is nothing new, I can say that the reaction was expected, because other international officials also met with a similar response. There was no cooperation at all from the Albanian side, from the Albanian judiciary or the Albanian authorities," Ljajić told reporters. "I can only imagine how the international community would have reacted if such a reaction had come from the Serbian side," Ljajić said.

Serbia is suffering much damage because it has not completed its cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, he said, and yet this is a matter of an investigation by an international organization that speaks in very precise terms about 400 bodies transferred from Kosovo and Metohija to the territory of Albania. "The international community is not reacting, nor is anyone from the Albanian side expressing readiness to take part in the investigation on that issue," Ljajić concluded.

ALBANIAN SECURITY NEWS

Berisha`s administrate is preparing genocide against Hellenic People of Himara Community

During the last his visit in Himara Region, Berisha calls to destruct abusive houses selected by his administrate in Ionian Coast. He inaugurated public works financed by World Bank, even the World Bank has stooped financing of the project of Menagment of Ionian Coastal, after the Berisha Government demolished a Greek village in Jala, Himara Region.

Those days, the officials of State Urban Inspection have monitoring as abusive building dozen of houses of himariotes who come back from emigration in their properties, selecting only houses of the Greek Community.

According to the Law of the Urbanisation 8405, article 45, (ratified by Albanian parliament and the President of the Republic of Albania) on 16, March 2009, enter 45 days every private subject has the rights to approve in "silence" by Local Authorities the request of proprietor.

The situation makes more complided when the Governmanet of Berisha has aproved to legalis about 260 thousand of buildings of albanians who have built on abusive lands particularly form north of Albania.

Making double standards undwr the national tourism strategy, selecting separated favoring Albanians than Greeks (who have their properties), the government has approved especially to use the Albanian national strategy against the Hellenic community who lives historicaly on Ionian Coast between Regions Lukovo and Himara the Law 9780 on 16/07/2007, creating The National Inspection Administrate, to use the last pressing against popullation.

The facts are facts, Kakomea, Jali, Dralea, Porto Palermo beaches and other resorts of Hellenic people must be property of "albanian state".

Organ Trafficking Claims Probed

One of Europe’s top human rights investigators is gathering evidence in Serbia and Albania on allegations of organ trafficking during the 1999 Kosovo conflict.

Dick Marty, rapporteur for the European Council, is leading an investigation into claims that members of the Kosovo Liberation Army were involved in organ trafficking. The allegations have been strenuously denied.

The Swiss senator is visiting Serbia from August 3 to 5 and will be in Albania from August 5 to 6, the European Council said in a statement. In both countries he will meet high government officials, prosecutors, and NGOs representing families of missing persons from the Kosovo conflict.

After the visits, Dick Marty will issue a report.
Claims of human organ trafficking in Kosovo were first revealed by former Hague tribunal prosecutor Carla Del Ponte in her book The Hunt: I and the war criminals.

In 2005, Marty led an investigation by the Council of Europe into the CIA’s alleged use of secret prisons in Europe, and use of “extraordinary renditions”, the illegal transfer of prisoners from one state to another.

www.balkansight.com

New proposal on "Greater Albania" space

Serbia: Ethnic Albanians Seek "Presevo Valley Region"

Belgrade 03 August 2009

Ethnic Albanian officials in southern Serbia have launched a new initiative for the formation of a separate region in the Presevo Valley with its own institutions and organs.
The proposal was raised in the assembly of the Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac municipalities and envisages the creation of an ethnic Albanian-led governance structure for the area.
The president of the local Presevo assembly, Skender Destani, told Balkan Insight that the assembly of Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac municipalities passed the demand to the Serbian government and parliament and is awaiting an answer.

“I don’t think the initiative will be accepted in Belgrade, but it’s worth trying. We want to convince the other side [Serbian government] that the solution, which we opt for, is in both our interests,” Destani added.Riza Halimi, leader of the ethnic Albanian Party of Democratic Action, told Balkan Insight that the proposal confirms a 2006 declaration, which envisaged giving ethnic Albanians in the region the right to self-determination. He has described this weekend's initiative as the only solution for local Albanians to keep their national, cultural and religious identity.

“The newest document is a response to the irresponsible approach the Serbian government has taken to the demands and problems of the Albanians in the south,” Halimi said.
The declaration criticises the recent actions of Serbian special police, alleging these are a continuation of ongoing efforts to collectively criminalise Albanians. The document demands proportional representation in employment practices and representation in Serbian state structures and public institutions, especially within local and border police forces.

Additionally, the declaration insists that Kosovo university degrees, signed by the Republic of Kosovo, be recognised, where these were issued after Kosovo declared independence on February 17, 2008. According to the agency, the assembly also called for either the freeing of members of the Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac or their processing by an international legal mechanism, given that those arrested in December 2008 are accused of war crimes.In their declaration, the officials expressed support for speeding the existing process whereby ethnic Albanians are reintegrated politically into Serbia’s state institutions.

The proposal was adopted immediately after talks between local Albanian representatives and Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic, which focused on the means for maintaining political harmony and safety and stability in the region. “Talks have passed well and correctly and they will be continued. I want local citizens to have understanding and support for Serbian security forces in the south. Also, I want to bring our forces together against crime and corruption since it’s in everyone’s interest,” Dacic said.

The Law on Regional Development, which the Serbian parliament is expected to adopt by year's end, will divide Serbia into seven regions. According to the draft, the three southern municipalities (Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac), will combine to form the new "Southern" region.

The declaration com

es after two violent incidents in the area in early July: two people were injured in a bomb explosion in the town of Presevo and two members of the Serbian police were wounded in a grenade attack in the village of Lucani near Bujanovac. Considering these terrorist attacks, the Interior Ministry has launched a security operation targeting those suspected of involvement.

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/21448/

THE HELLENIC NEWS OF AMERICA

Identity crisis in Greek village in Albania

Albania is set to apply for EU membership, one Albanian mayor says his village should obtain special status as a Greek minority - and has been sentenced to six months in prison for further may be in Albania, it may look like Albania, but this village has something of an identity crisis.

The mayor in question, Vasil Bollano, was pushing for it to go Greek!

The village of Himara in Southern Albania was thrown into the spotlight two years ago, when the mayor ordered the removal of all non-Greek road signs. He said they should be in Greek and Albanian, not just in Albanian. The mayor himself has Greek origins, but like many others here, his family has lived in this area for generations.The removal of the signs caused chaos, because they were along a section of Albania?s coast that is popular with tourists.And soon afterwards, the mayor went one step further, and threatened secession from Albania.

The RT team tried to talk to him, but his offices were closed, and when they finally tracked him down, he refused to talk.Most people in this small sleepy village don?t feel either Greek or Albanian.Albanian vendor Lenin, unlike his namesake who has always been in the headlines, just sells them.

He was born in a nearby Albanian village, and can trace back his roots in the area for generations.“Greeks and Albanians are brothers. We go to each other?s houses, share our food, like one family. We have no problems here,” he says.Like Lenin, Alket Neraxi, a Greek hotel owner, also says his ancestors were among the first in town.The village of Himara in Southern Albania“My great-great grandmother spoke only Greek, my surname doesn?t exist in Albania. So, I think I?m from the Greek island of Corfu, but I don?t have any connection to Greece today,” said Neraxi.

But that is not what the mayor believed. He said enough Greeks live in the area for it to be given special status as a Greek minority – so much so, that's he threatened Albania's desire to be accepted by the West.“He sent a letter to the Greek parliament calling on it not to ratify the accession of Albania into NATO.

This is against our constitution, and carries a penalty of up to five years,” said Genci Terpo, an Albanian lawyer.Prosecutors have filed charges against Bollano for abuse of power, and his sentencing came as no surprise to anyone.Despite his threats, he is not being taken seriously on either side of the border. Local journalist Besar Likmeta says Tirana purposefully treated him with kid gloves.

“Probably their thinking was that he?s just making a fuss, and the story?s going to go away. And also, they are treading very carefully with their bigger neighbour to the south, Greece,” explains Besar Likmeta, editor at the Balkan Insight edition.In April, Albania filed for EU membership, and will want to keep Athens happy.But the mayor of Himara, it seems, was determined to exploit that situation to his own Greek advantage

Μόνο έτσι μπορεί να επιβιώσει ο Ελληνισμός της Β. Ηπείρου…

Του ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ ΖΙΟΥΛΗ

Photo: Womens of Northern Epirus protesting in Vlora City in 1997

Η εγκληματική αδιαφορία των στελεχών της Ομόνοιας και του ΚΕΑΔ για τα προβλήματα των Βορειοηπειρωτών, είχε ως αποτέλεσμα οι Βορειοηπειρώτες να γυρίσουν την πλάτη στην ΟΜΟΝΟΙΑ-ΚΕΑΔ. Η διαφθορά, οι ίντριγκες ανάμεσα στα στελέχη, ο εγκλωβισμός της ΟΜΟΝΟΙΑΣ-ΚΕΑΔ στην παρέα των 5-6 ατόμων, είχε ως αποτέλεσμα τα τραγικά αποτελέσματα στις πρόσφατες εκλογές.

Μία σοβαρή πτυχή της κατάντιας και της αναξιοπιστίας των στελεχών της Ομόνοιας –ΚΕΑΔ είναι η μη δημόσια παρέμβαση αυτών των στελεχών για το θέμα της δημογραφικής αλλοίωσης, η αδιαφορία για την αρπαγή των λιβαδιών, η αδιαφορία για τα καθημερινά προβλήματα του απλού κόσμου, η αλαζονεία που εκπέμπουν έναντι των Βορειοηπειρωτών αλλά ταυτόχρονα και η ευκολία να… προσκυνούν το αλβανικό κράτος για μια διευθυντική θέση.Όταν ιδρύθηκε η Ομόνοια αγκαλιάστηκε από όλους τους Βορειοηπειρώτες και έγινε το σύμβολο του αγώνα για ανθρώπινα δικαιώματα στην γη που μας γέννησε.

Στην συνέχεια, η αδιαφορία της Αθήνας, τα οικονομικά συμφέροντα, η αλαζονική συμπεριφορά των στελεχών της και η απομάκρυνση τίμιων στελεχών από την Ομόνοια-ΚΕΑΔ, οδήγησαν σε αυτήν την σημερινή θλιβερή εικόναΗ Ομόνοια και το ΚΕΑΔ δεν έχασαν επειδή κάποια ʽʼστελέχηʼʼ της προτίμησαν να μπουν σε ψηφοδέλτια αλβανικών κομμάτων. Η Ομόνοια και το ΚΕΑΔ απέτυχαν και έχασαν επειδή απομακρύνθηκαν εδώ και χρόνια από την βάση. Και η βάση είναι οι Έλληνες Βορειοηπειρώτες, οι ελληνόβλαχοι και γενικά οι χριστιανοί που ζουν σε Αγίους Σαράντα, Αργυρόκαστρο, Χιμάρα, Δέλβινο, Αυλώνα, Μουρσή, Τζάρα, Λούκοβο, Λουντζουριά, Κορυτσά, Πρεμετή και αλλού.

Δεν μπορεί η Ομόνοια και το ΚΕΑΔ να συνεχίζουν να λειτουργούν με αυτόν το τρόπο. Χρειάζεται σοβαρότητα και διάθεση αυτοκριτικής! Χρειάζεται εδώ και τώρα αναδιοργάνωση της Ομόνοιας και του ΚΕΑΔ. Χρειάζεται να ανοίξει πάλι τις πόρτες για να επιστρέψουν όλοι όσοι μπορούν και θέλουν να προσφέρουν μακριά από προσωπικές ατζέντες, συμφέροντα και εγωπάθειες, να λειτουργήσουν τα παραρτήματα ως εστίες στήριξης της Ομόνοιας-ΚΕΑΔ από τα χωριά του Βούρκου μέχρι την Κορυτσά και τα Τίρανα.

Ο Βασίλης Μπολάνος και ο Βαγγέλης Ντούλες έχουν υποχρέωση απέναντι στην ιστορία, απέναντι στις γενιές που έφυγαν και στις γενιές που θα έρθουν να σταθούν στο ύψος τους και να δουλέψουν για το καλό της ιδιαίτερής μας πατρίδας. Η λύση είναι να απεγκλωβιστούν από την παρέα των 5-6 ατόμων και να δουλέψουν για την επιβίωση του Βορειοηπειρωτικού Ελληνισμού

Ο κ. Αλέξανδρος Ζιούλης είναι Πρόεδρος της Ένωσης Βορειοηπειρωτών Κύπρου “Ο ΠΥΡΡΟΣʼʼ και του Ιδρύματος Μελετών και Αρωγής Βορειοηπειρωτικού Ελληνισμού, από τα ιδρυτικά στελέχη της «Ομόνοιας».