[ALBSA-Info] A very disturbing event

[Agron Alibali]

Greek forces said to mistreat  Albanians  at border

Source:  Albanian  Radio, Tirana, in  Albanian  1430
gmt 22 Feb 00

 

   Text of report by  Albanian  radio on 22nd February

   [Reporter] Last night at about 1800 [1700 gmt] two
armed Greek soldiers came 
500 metres into  Albanian  territory, to a warehouse
of the former agricultural 
cooperative of Vrisera, in the vicinity of the village
of Koshovica, and seized 
six  Albanian  citizens from Fier who had been waiting
to enter Greek territory 
during the night. The Greek soldiers mistreated the
following citizens: Rrapi
Cepele, 50, of Roskovec, Albert Meta, 34, Agron Cenka,
31, Alfred Bixhaku, 35,
and Ferdinand Xenga, 38, of the village of Kuman in
Fier District.

   The Greek soldiers took all the  Albanian 
nationals to the border, where
other Greek soldiers had been waiting for them, and
shoved them with their rifle
butts and very savagely kicked them. They continue to
maltreat  Albanians  also 
at St Marine Church, where more Greek soldiers are
reported to have joined their
comrades. The Greek police brought them back in their
jeeps to Kakavije border
post at about 2100. The Greek border police further
maltreated them at the
border. The  Albanian  police took them to the
Gjirokaster hospital for
treatment. One of them, hospitalized Agron Cenka,
narrates:

   [Cenka] They handcuffed us and beat us black and
blue. They kicked us, hit us
with the butts of their machine-guns and their
torches, and with whatever they
could. All the time they kept swearing at us. They
took us over to their
territory, where some policemen also beat us up. Then
they took us to their
military unit. About 20 of them, soldiers, went on
beating and manhandling us.
They took our names and kept hitting us with whatever
they could lay their hands
on.

   [Reporter] This is not the only incident of
maltreatment on the
 Albanian -Greek border in the south. Maltreatment of 
Albanians  had place even
before Greece adopted the Schengen visa system,
cancelling  Albanians'  visas
for no reason and tearing their passports to pieces.

   This is the second incident of maltreatment of 
Albanians  in only four days.
In the village of Likomice, in Sarande, four days ago
Greek police fired their
weapons at citizen Albert Mezini, who sustained two
bullet wounds, while he was 
attempting to cross the border.

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