During a press conference in Durrës today, Democratic Party (PD) leader Lulzim Basha sought the dismissal of Mayor of Durrës Vangjush Dako, after he gave an employment guarantee to secure the early release of gang-leader Lulzim Berisha ahead of the 2017 elections. The Mayor of the Municipality of Durrës, Vangjush Dako, has used the power and
On December 10, the Regional Court in Durrës decided to grant the early release from jail of Lulzim Berisha, who was arrested in 2006 as the leader of the “Gang of Durrës,” responsible for a series of murders and murder attempts in 1998–1999. In 2012, he was sentenced to lifetime imprisonment, which was changed in
The unexpected visit of CIA Director John Brennan to Albania last week appears to have woken up the state police, which has taken several actions this weekend against the widespread drug trafficking in the country. During his short visit, Brennan met President Bujar Nishani, Prime Minister Edi Rama, and Minister of Defense Mimi Kodheli. He also
After a quarter century of distortions and lies of those who have wanted to exploit the events of December 1990 to provide themselves with legitimacy, merit, heroism, and sacrifice, we who have taken part in those events have to begin to tell and write the truths before we forget them and fall victim to historical
US Ambassador Donald Lu called the liberation of Lulzim Berisha, the head of the band of Durrës, as an unacceptable act of corrupted courts. During a conference on the International Day against Corruption Lu declared: The liberation of Lulzim Berisha has happened for unknown reasons. I would like to say to the corrupted courts that
By Decision of the Council of Ministers (VKM) yesterday, the ownership of the “Pyramid” in the center of Tirana, officially known as the Arbnori International Cultural Center was transferred from the Ministry of Culture to the Municipality of Tirana. The Pyramid was opened on October 14, 1988 as the Enver Hoxha Museum. Since 1991 it has
Television channel Top Channel reports that on November 12 the Greek government sent the Albanian Ministry of Justice a 10,000-page criminal dossier on former Director of the Road Transportation Directorate in Saranda Kelmend (or Klement) Balili. This is the second time that the Greek authorities send a dossier containing facts and witness reports on murder, drugs, and human
In a long article in his own newspaper Shqiptarja, Italian journalist Carlo Bollino was kind enough to respond to my review of Bunk’Art 2, published here at Exit on November 21. In his response, Bollino referred to me as “the Dutch collaborator” of Democratic Party newspaper Rilindja Demokratike. Apart from the ironic fact that “collaborator”
Last week, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure published the official “Selected Bidder Notice” confirming that the “Catalyst Consortium” has conclusively won the bid for the concession of the Rruga e Kombit from Milot to Morina, on the border with Kosovo. If the Catalyst Consortium accepts the concession by December 7, this brings an end
Read here Part 1 of the interview Margo Rejmer: I have the impression that Albanians have heard so much about the great vision of the government, that they don’t trust any of these big plans anymore. People have lost trust and now they are losing hope. Fatos Lubonja: In 2013 people had hope about Rama