January without any fish

Albanian Free Press newspaper

By Frrok Çupi

He said that “in January, we will catch big fishes”. He had even said “the beginning” of January. “Fishes” in this fairytale include all humans who break the law; “big fishes” are criminals, especially those who are part of the mob or the state.

Meanwhile, “he” who said this is the US ambassador, Donald Lu.

As far as January is concerned, this is what was caught…

A 19 year old man and a 32 year old man who were crossing the border crossing point of Muriqan, between Albania and Montenegro. Both of them are the sons of AzemHajdari, hero of Democracy. Authorities also caught in the border two opposition protesters who,on 18 December,had dared to come out on the square and protest against the “violation of the Constitution” in Parliament. Today we also saw the capture of one of those two boys who broke out of a Greek prison.

That’s it.

In fact, the two boys that were caught in Muriqan were not caught today, but in the last days of December. Police announced that they had caught them today. The state had decided to announce them as January “fishes”.

Or, perhaps it wanted to cover up the news that the only “big fish” that was caught, was released from prison today. OrestSota, a close friend of the minister accused of participating in criminal groups, Tahiri, was released. He was caught in possession of 836 thousand euros of “pocket money”, unable to explain its source and destination. This means that the fish that would serve to catch the big fish, in this case, the former minister, was released. The boss of the “Kavaja” mob clan, Davorin Baltic, was allowed to cross in Muriqan, although he was assassinated in Belgrade.

This was the January without fish. 2018 will certainly be like this too. Albanian fish eaters might feel deceived when they see the lines thrown by the ambassador, the government and police.

What’s happening in “our sea”? They promised that many big fishes are hiding in this sea.

1.

The curious is alerting others and making up syndromes

Ambassador Lu may be considered as the biggest and only curious man of January. Of course, the American diplomatic envoy’s duty is not to play the role of the curious man and mock people, but it happened. Instead of playing the role of the diplomat appointed by the White House, he is playing the role of the criminal expert. The criminal expert’s mission is to raise the alarm, even if the alarm has no grounds, by saying: “Hey! I see sharks…” Surely, you have seen the film “Syndrome of the Sea’s Fang”, where someone alerts the others about the arrival of sharks and the others take protection measures. The fate of the criminal expert is the same as the fate of the doctor; both one and the other are hated by their “patients”. The criminal expert is hated because he has given false alert on the “shark”, while the doctor is hated because he has told the truth to the cancer patients. But, in the case of the “big fish”, the ambassador’s role was not to alert the “victims”, but to set in motion the mechanisms of the super power against the “sharks”. In fact, he did quite the opposite, allowing fishes to hide in the sea.

2.

Voluntary blinding and the naïve diplomat.

It was promised that January would be the month when “big fishes” would be caught. So, after this declaration, the public was expecting to see several mobsters who were identified, held in the net and waiting to appear before justice. But this was not what happened. Even the “fishes” who were in the net are now being released and are allowed to disappear. Two elements contributed in their capture:

Pure luck and intelligent services or European police.

“Pure luck” is imposed by the fact that in an area of a square meter of water where there’s a high density of fishes, someone falls in the net, as it was the case of the former minister.

Meanwhile, intelligent services and police authorities from neighboring Italy caught a criminal gang which had ties with the government of Albanians and the minister of Interior was part of it.

January is being used to destroy criminal evidence. Now that January is here, the ambassador is no longer here. The “curious” man who said that he sees sharks, has now imposed a “voluntary blinding”. Even the prosecution, in particular after the violent election of the “temporary” General prosecutor, has been subject to this “voluntary blinding”. However, criminal experts say that prosecution is engaged in “cleaning the fish”, which means, ruin criminal evidence.

EU emissaries who have visited our country, have played the role of the blind…

Even this year we will not see any fish.

3.

Albanians are cursed by everyone, but even by their own people

How can January be perceived as the month where the Biggest fish is caught? The bombastic phrase has helped the mob to hide rather than scare it. Facts show that Albanians have been recently chosen as workers of the mob and crime. They work for a “slice of bread”. They cultivate, water, package and deliver the drug. But for what? The profits are taken by someone else. The drugs travel on the other side of the Adriatic, where they promise “EU accession because you do a very good job”.

The mob’s crossroads have been clearly defined: The Balkan triangle where Tirana is one of them. Mob routes used to carry goods from Albania to Calabria and Puglia. Albania is part of the mob’s route in the Eastern Balkans.

Where will all of this investment made by the boss go if the “big fish” is caught? It’s either an illusion or a voluntary blinding.