What: Demonstration
When: Friday December 8, 2006
Time: 8:00 a.m.
Venue: White House, Washington, DC
Come join the Albanian-American communities of the Diaspora as they converge in Washington, DC on Friday December 8th to protest against the maltreatment of Albanians in the Malesia e Madhe region of Montenegro.
The timing of this rally was coordinated to coincide with the arrival of Montenegro's newly appointed ambassador to the United States, Miodrag Vlahovic, who is scheduled to meet with President Bush at the White House in the early morning of December 8th.
Given the venue of this event, notices have been distributed to various Members of Congress welcoming them to join the demonstrators in a show of support for causes they are all too familiar with: freedom, liberty and justice for ALL citizen-members of a state.
In the interim, it is obligatory that all Albanians who have ever experienced persecution and injustice in the hands of majorities and/or repressive regimes (i.e., ALL ALBANIANS) come join the cause and DEMAND (1) an end to the continued subjection to unfair and discriminatory policies against Albanians' political, social, economic, and civic ways of life, and (2) the release of all prisoners who are being illegally detained and tortured without cause and due process.
As a newly independent state, Montenegro is vigorously pursuing membership into elite European institutions in an effort to prove that their democratic credentials are consistent with other member states of the European Union. Paradoxically, they are not! And if recent events in Malesia are any indication of how Montenegro will behave in the "new Europe", then it is destined to spiral out of control similar to what we witnessed in the Yugoslavia of the 1990s.
It is therefore our inherent right, as Albanians, to exploit these inconsistencies against democratic traditions and protest the international community to demand that Montenegro fulfill all preconditions in protecting, promoting and sustaining minority rights prior to any association with European treaties, pacts, and/or memberships!
It is thus for the reasons stated herein that these basic demands will be echoed off the walls of Washington monuments and the halls of justice come December 8th.
Get off your asses and come join the Pursuit of Freedom!!
23 comments:
It's about time. My "ass" is there!! :-)
Halleluiah !!!!!!!!!
What better way to digest my turkey than to find out there is another rally in DC?
My 87-year old grandmother wants to attend; she heard that Montenegro is planning to take her land away from her in Triesh! Grandma is pissed!
Does anyone know if buses from Detroit will be provided for as they were for the last demonstration?
And by the way, who organized this event? Was it "Malesie e Madhe" again?
I think they are opting for that, but an email from "Malsija" was sent out saying there are discounted airline tix to DC.
Just email Shoqata or go to their webpage -- www.malesiaemadhe.org.
What I want to know is if anyone is meeting with representatives in DC like they did last time.
Godspeed!
In Detroit there will be buses leaving St. Paul Church the evening of the 7th (Thursday).
But I think they are requesting RSVP so they get an accurate head count of who's going.
As far as who organized the demonstration -- "Malesia e Madhe" called a meeting a few weeks ago when they heard that Vlahovic was coming to the US. They voted and decided to have the demonstration BUT to include all the Albanian organizations from the Diaspora as organizers. But the idea did come from Detroit (and it figures well because Detroit is home to most of Malesia).
I think you Albanians in Montenegro are victime of what was witnessed in Kosova in the 1980s and beyond (repression from the majority). If this is the case, and it is, then lessons have not been learned in Montenegro, and I think it is very important to point this out at the protest.
Also, the Montenegrin media is slamming Albanians, making them scapegoats for everything that is "evil". Is it just me or is the Montenegrin government and teh DPS the biggest hypocrites in Europe -- ties to the mafia, crime and corruption are not an Albanian phenomenon but pure Montenegrin, where it started from the top and Milo Dukanovic and his cronies are forever linked to cigarette smuggling and human trafficking, among other things.
I was disgusted after reading the post on this site about Dukanovic and corruption! And now the USA celebrates the opening of the Montenegrin embassy in DC, to establish relations with these criminals?!?
This MUST be highlighted at the protest.
Any responses on this opinion of mine?
Well said Donika, why don't you put something together and present those issues in Washington?
Click here to view the FLYER for the demonstration!
http://www.malesiaemadhe.org/175.htm
Donika, where are you from? Kosove ose Mal te Zi?
There have been conflicting reports coming from the Albanian community in Detroit that the Albanian prisoners in Montenegro are providing the Montenegrin police with incriminating evidence against other Albanians in order to receive lesser punishment.
Sokol Ivanaj is reported to have turned over the names of Albanians that supposedly are the "real" suspects of the "crimes" they are charged.
There are suspected affidavits of each prisoner floating around in some circles that are very detailed which explicitly give out the names of Albanians with connections to the "terrorist plot." Each affidavit is said to be about 15 pages in length and very detailed.
Has anyone heard of this?
Could they perhaps have given these statements under durress??
Montenegro is probabbly making a deal with them by giving lesser sentences or setting them free if they give names of fellow Albanians so they can hunt them down.
I pray that the prisoners don't turn one another in, that can spell doom for the trust among one another in Malesia.
Please do all you can to rally/recruit as many people as possible for this demonstration. For anyone who cares about what's going on with our fellow brothers and sisters, please show your support.
That's right -- ANYONE WHO CARES FOR ALBANIAN RIGHTS, FROM WHATEVER REGION IT MAY BE -- we have an obligation, as Albanians, to assemble and demand that our rights be protected!
Any news as to who might speak at this rally? Any "important people", like senators or congressmen??
I'm telling you, Members of Congress will stay away from this rally because they are not ready to take a stand on something they are not sure about -- status of teh prisoners.
They are not completely convinced taht the prisoners are innocent. Maybe they did want to plan something. Maybe not. Until the evidence is presented they will remain quiet. All they can ask for is fair treatment.
But they did make comments regarding the prisoners. They sent letters to the PM of Montenegro and the U.S. Secretary of State.
They are constantly communicating with the Consulate in Podgorica.
True, they did do all that, BUT they haven't come out and declared that the prisoners are innocent or demand an immediate release. All U.S. officials are saying is that they are treated fairly during these legal proceedings.
Now the question is: what if they are found guilty and sentenced to terms in prison??? What then? What do US officials do then? Demand their release?? I doubt it, this is not communist Yugoslavia anymore, Montenegro is an ally of the USA and neither country wants to do anything to piss off the other. I'm afraid that keeping a dozen Albanians in jail will not be enough to piss off the United States, especially if they receive a "fair" trial. But what is a "fiar trial?" Albanians and Slavs wil differ on that definition.
We just have to follow these events closely and point out any irregularities in the legal proceedings. I guess one way to point them out is to hold demonstrations.
Are Albanians in Montenegro participating in the same way??
Let me get one thing straight:
ALBANIANS IN MONTENEGRO MUST HOLD A DEMONSTRATION!!!!
This is getting ridiculous! What effect do all these demonstrations in the Diaspora have when the real victims are not standing up to exploit the abuses of the Montenegrin government??
Those that are being directly effected need to stand up and demand their rights. By not doing so they are sending mixed messages to the Diaspora and Europe. All they have to say is if there is a real problem in Montenegro then the Albanians would make some noise. I have heard more noise during Sunday mass!
It would have been extremely effective if a demonstration was held in Tuz at 2:00 pm this Friday to coincide with the demonstration in Washington.
If Malesia can't accumulate at least 1000 people to rally for their DIGNITY, PRIDE and rights as human beings, then fuck them all -- they deserve to be discriminated!!! And I mean this!
Dogs have more rights than Albanians in Montenegro; at least they are allowed to roam free without getting harassed.
Pretty harsh words Kol, but I agree with you.
How many times must a people get slapped around and spit at until they slap and spit back?
Gjon -- I believe Eliot Engel (D-NY) and Sander Levin (D-MI) will be taking part in the rally.
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