I feel sick and I stand on my opinion that he should not be allowed to reenter the political and much less the academic life of this country. I’ve heard plenty of sad stories where this person has abused his position and authority and am truly disappointed by the court’s decision to acquit him of any wrong doing with regard to the scandal that was widely reported in the media about one year ago. Well, one thing is for sure, the court’s decision is obviously subjective and does not clear the dirt-level moral standing that this person represents.

My hope is that if the decision is made for him to return to the academic life, that students would rise to oppose this decision by boycotting classes and other types of peaceful and democratic forms of protest.

We just have to start saying “no” to immoral behavior and abusive conduct of such people. This is my stand on the issue.

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A group of Albanian journalists and civil society activists protested on Wednesday in front of the office of Prime Minister Sali Berisha against the brutal assault of Tirana publisher Mero Baze by oil magnate Rezart Taci.

Following the symbolism of the Iraqi journalist that attacked U.S. President George W. Bush with a shoe, the protesters threw shoes at the office of the prime minister, while accusing him of being responsible for the violence against the journalist.

Baze was beaten late on Monday evening in Tirana, following a series of reports in the publisher’s media accusing the businessman of tax evasion.

According to witnesses present in the Capriccio Bar in the center of Tirana’s upscale Bllok neighborhood, Rezart Taci and his bodyguards attacked the journalist, kicking and beating him for roughly four minutes, leaving him unconscious.

Present during the assault were also two other journalists; political commentator Andi Bushati and the editor-in-chief of Vizion Plus TV Arban Hasani, who later testified on the assault on the journalist.

Baze recovered in Tirana’s military hospital on Monday evening and was released in the early hours of Tuesday. He had ran a series of critical reports on his TV Show, Faktor Plus, on Vizion Plus TV accusing Rezart Taci and his company, the ARMO oil refinery of massive tax evasion.

Apart from the TV show, Baze also publishes the Tirana daily Tema, a publication that is very critical of the government.

Rezart Taci is known as one of the Tirana businessman in Prime Minister Berisha’s inner circle. His other company, Taci Oil International has spent millions of euros organising charity football matches, with the proceeds donated to a children’s charity ran by Berisha’s wife.

The businessman through a statement for the media, admitted he had been present during the assault, but denied he had participated.  Police so far have arrested two of his bodyguards and issued a warrant for Taci’s detention, but have not yet arrested him.

On Tuesday a journalism organisation, offered a 10,000 euro reward for information, leading to Taci’s arrest.

Source: BalkanInsight

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this issue…

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Elevated levels of music noise and smoke-filled rooms are an all-year-round problem which gets worse in the colder seasons of the year.

Meanwhile, music noise levels are a ‘thorn in the flesh’ for the inhabitants of the apartment buildings around or above such places of “zombie like” entertainment!

In the past several weeks a couple of newspapers have given special attention to this issue by voicing the concerns of the inhabitants in their daily pages. The issue has gotten to the point that now the Tirana municipality and other related authorities are intervening to remedy the situation by issuing warnings and fines to those who break the rules.

On the one side, I can sympathize with the bar owners and managers who due to increased competition have to come up with ways to attract more customers, though their methods are always the same. If it’s not some band or special singer, then it’s just the DJ blasting loud music. But even for those places that may choose to keep their volume low, the surrounding sounds of other bars tend to intrude at which point the only solution would be to raise their volume as well. In this cacophony of mind-numbing sounds everyone is left deaf or close to it. But in my judgment the source of the problem lies elsewhere.

The obvious lack of entertainment venues such as theaters, galleries, etc., makes it almost inevitable for people to resolve going to such places such where the only language spoken is loud music and smoke.

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From the people that I have been talking to as well as from my own opinion of this issue, I have to say that the news did not come as of a particular surprise to most. However, the fiasco of the general elections might have had something to do with the general disregard for the news. There is that sense that in a time of regular disillusionment by politicians and the government what can one more bad news do to us?

Well, for starters, there is a new sense of being left out almost to the point of direct discrimination by the European Commission. I say this, not only for Albanians, but also for Bosnia & Herzegovinians and Kosovars in particular as well.

But is this destiny, “fate”, or are we always making the wrong decisions at the wrong time?

As I bring this thought out, I purposely am reminded of the two different worldviews that dominate this region. There are those that due to their eastern cultural and religious influences from past centuries tend to view things as just ‘destiny’ or ‘fate’! However, there are an ever growing number of people who are of the conviction that ‘we decide our own destiny’ or that ‘we are responsible for it’.  Both however present a very interesting pessimistic view.

If the first view is true, then we might as well give up and just go on back to survival mode. If the second view is true, then may be our efforts are not good enough for the EC!

Though I sense that there is more truth in the later than the prior, the fact remains that we cannot afford to be overcome by a sense of pessimism, but rather should focus on getting things right on our part and pushing with the EC to bring about the desired results.

Times have changed and we as Albanians need to search out for a new ‘fate’ if you will. The new sense of discontent and perception of discrimination lets me know that we as Albanians are starting to view things differently, though very slowly, I must admit.

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With regard to the success or not, of the process there is no one else better the OSCE to issue a statement or final verdict, that is why I would like to forward on to you a preliminary statement made today:

In a statement issued today, the International Election Observation Mission concluded that Albania’s election process demonstrated improvements, but also noted that violations persist.

The observers said the elections marked tangible progress with regard to the introduction of new voter registration and identification procedures, and the adoption of an improved legal framework.

But the observers also noted that these improvements were overshadowed by the politicization of technical aspects of the process and violations observed during the campaign which undermined public confidence in the electoral process.

Election day was overall calm and peaceful and the atmosphere was improved. Observers assessed the voting process slightly more positively than in previous elections, but noted procedural violations related in particular to inking procedures and widespread family voting.

The mission said it was too early to make a definite assessment, as the vote count and tabulation of results have yet to be completed.

“The country has matured, it has made progress, and many of the fears we had only some months ago have not materialized. I’m certainly happy about the progress we saw, but there is also a considerable number of issues that need to be tackled, in particular the polarized political climate,” said Wolfgang Grossruck, Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and Special Co-ordinator of the OSCE short-term observer mission.

“These elections demonstrated that the Albanian people has the whole potential for building a democratic society alike that in other European countries. Now there is a huge responsibility of the authorities and main political stakeholders to work hard in order to establish confidence among the citizens for a democratic electoral process,” said Corien Jonker, Head of the delegation of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly.

“Our report reveals positive but also some negative developments in the conduct of these elections. Progress has been achieved since the last parliamentary elections in 2005. However, greater efforts still need to be made by all political forces in order to meet demanding international standards,” said Bruce George, Head of the delegation of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

“The new electoral code agreed to by both main political parties introduced a number of important improvements and safeguards, in particular with regard to voter registration and identification. It is unfortunate that the high level of distrust among parties, the use of official events for campaign purposes and allegations of pressure on voters did not increase public confidence in the election process,” said Ambassador Audrey Glover, Head of the long-term election observation mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR).

This is the link to the original text: Improvements in Albania’s election process, but violations persist, observers say.

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In their declaration, which has been published over a good number of the Albanian media and online sites, the group lists several major events in which Albanian workers and people died innocently due to political and civil condoned negligence, silence and/or corruption of administration officials. The declaration does not forsake to blame the opposition and civil society for its cooperation and/or silence in light of these events. It closes with a list of 30 top representatives as the ones responsible for the situation based on statistics from 2008, leading with the name of Prime Minister Sali Berisha and closing with the opposition representative Erion Brance.

The statement says: “Over 120 Albanian workers lost their lives in various accidents during 2008 because the authorities take bribes by the private companies so that they won’t have to uphold the security regulations. Over 300 Albanians lost their lives in the public hospitals due to deficient medical services. Over 350 Albanians lost their lives in road accidents during 2008, due to theft of allocated funds for a contemporary communication system. Over 75 Albanians committed suicide in 2008, due to despair, lack of hope and general disillusionment with their country.”

I believe that despite the way you look at the list or its general accuracy, it definitively conveys a desperate state of affairs for us all. Personally I believe in civil protest which may lead to civil disobedience in specific cases, however, I am not for anarchy.

That said, I would love to read and hear what you may thing about this whole issue. (a full list of names can be found here).

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However, as I write about this major event for the whole country I don’t feel that I want to add any more comments and thoughts than what I’ve done in a previous post Improving Prospects:

Personally I think it is about time that we joined. And I say this not so much as a sign of the achievements of the current government, but first and foremost for the people of this country. As regards the current political class, there is great disappointment. However, such developments do bring about a renewed hope and a fresh awareness that things will improve in some form or fashion. Much has to be done, and Albania has still to face up to the illness of corruption and many other important issues affecting its people.

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My good old friend Gjergj Erebara, posted recently about this same issue, which made me reconsider the need to post about it here.

He says:

“In these last days Albanian politics has made it clear that even the most elementary rights of people, like the right to travel, the right to receive you own money or other such rights which stem from a labor contract, are completely useless, if the citizens of this country don’t give a *** about getting their own identity card, which at this juncture is not very useful to most of them, however very much so to the government and the opposition.”

He then goes on to detail the reasons why such a forced push, with restrictive implications for the right of people to travel or simply get paid, is reminiscent of the times of communism where people were forced to do what those in power wanted.

Now, let me make some things clear as to my personal position. I do not oppose the need for all Albanian citizens to be equipped with their own identity cards, since there are clearly many benefits to be had. However, it is completely preposterous to “force” people to do it by means which clearly violate their citizen rights.

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The police cuffed him in public as he was coming out of a restaurant near his job. According to the media the doctor did not object as he was presented with the charges and then escorted out. The surgeon had been under investigation for several months after former patients and people had reported him for bribery.

The 58 year old, Agrim Kraja, has distinguished himself as an oncological surgeon with some 30 years of experience. However, the growing number of bribery accusations against him could not go unheeded for long, which is what brought about the courts decision to issue an arrest warrant in his name.

The event brought about mixed reactions by both the media, public and health officials. For the media this was another case of corruption in the health sector where hospital service conditions seem to be unable to remove the mark of corruption in all levels. Meanwhile, health officials and hospital staff had mixed reactions as well. Health ministry officials condemned the way that the doctor was publicly arrested (comparable to the arrest of a criminal) as it diminishes the dignity and role of the doctor as a public health servant, whom demands respect by all. On the other side, those who spoke in his defense against the charges were few.

For the public, including myself, the event hopefully will serve to bring some much needed attention to this plague of our society in a sphere where all of us are vulnerable – our health security. Let’s hope that something good will come out of this.

Please feel free to share your opinions or health service stories here.

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