The Kosovo Liberation Army was an ethnic Albanian separatist militia that sought the separation of Kosovo,the vast majority of which is inhabited by Albanians,from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and Serbia during the 1990s. Albanian nationalism was a central tenet of the KLA and many in its ranks supported the creation of a Greater Albania,which would encompass all Albanians in the Balkans,stressing Albanian culture,ethnicity and nation.
Dennis Howard Marks was a Welsh drug smuggler and author who achieved notoriety as an international cannabis smuggler through high-profile court cases. At his peak he claimed to have been smuggling consignments of the drug as large as 30 tons,and was connected with groups as diverse as the CIA,the IRA,MI6,and the Mafia. He was eventually convicted by the American Drug Enforcement Administration and given a 25-year prison sentence;he was released in April 1995 after serving seven years. Though he had up to 43 aliases,he became known as "Mr Nice" after he bought a passport from convicted murderer Donald Nice. After his release from prison,he published a best-selling autobiography,Mr. Nice,and campaigned publicly for changes in drugs legislation.
Carla Del Ponte is a former Chief Prosecutor of two United Nations international criminal law tribunals. A former Swiss attorney general,she was appointed prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in August 1999,replacing Louise Arbour.
Capital punishment in Singapore is a legal punishment. Executions in Singapore are carried out by long drop hanging,and they usually take place at dawn. Thirty-three offences—including murder,drug trafficking,terrorism,use of firearms and kidnapping—warrant the death penalty under Singapore law.
Albanian mafia or Albanian organized crime are the general terms used for criminal organizations based in Albania or composed of ethnic Albanians. Albanian organized crime is active in Europe,North America,South America,and various other parts of the world including the Middle East and Asia. The Albanian Mafia participates in a diverse range of criminal enterprises including trafficking in drugs,arms,and humans. Thanks to their close ties with the 'Ndrangheta of Calabria,they control a large part of the billion dollar wholesale cocaine market in Europe and appear to be the primary distributors of cocaine in various European drug hubs including London. Albanian organized crime is characterized by diversified criminal enterprises which,in their complexity,demonstrate a very high criminal capacity. In Albania,there are over 15 mafia families that control organized crime.
Ljube Boškoski is a Macedonian politician and former Minister of Internal Affairs of North Macedonia.
Richard M. Roberts is an American attorney. Roberts was a former law enforcement officer who worked as a detective in the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and Essex County Bureau of Narcotics. After completing law school at Seton Hall University and passing the bar examination,Roberts served as an Assistant Prosecutor in the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.
In 1991,the Socialist Party of Albania,with specific social democratic ideology took control of the country through democratic elections. One year later the Democratic Party of Albania won the new elections. After 1990,Albania has been seeking a closer relationship with the West. What followed were deliberate programs of economic and democratic reform,but the implementation of capitalism led to the proliferation of pyramid schemes. Chaos in late 1996 to early 1997,as a result of the collapse of these pyramid schemes,alarmed the world and prompted the influx of international peacekeeping forces. In 1995,Albania was accepted into the Council of Europe and requested membership in NATO and is a potential candidate country for accession to the European Union. The workforce of Albania has continued to emigrate to Western countries,especially Greece and Italy.
Lazarat is a village in Gjirokastër County,in southern Albania. It is located in the Dropull valley. Formerly functioning as a municipality,as part of the 2015 local government reform,it became a subdivision of the municipality of Gjirokastër. The former municipality consisted of the villages Lazarat and Kordhocë.
Giovanni "John" Gambino was an Italian-born American mobster. Born in Palermo,Sicily,he became a made member of the Gambino crime family in 1975 and a capodecina or captain,and head of the crime family's Sicilian faction,appointed by family boss John Gotti in 1986,according to Mafia turncoat Sammy Gravano.
Nasip Naço is an Albanian politician and is a member of the Assembly of the Republic of Albania for the Socialist Movement for Integration,former Minister of Economy,Trade and Energy in the cabinet of Sali Berisha. He replaces Ilir Meta,who resigned over allegations of corruption. Almost,now Nasip Naco is replaces from Edmond Haxhinasto.
Flamur Noka is an Albanian politician,currently serving as the General Secretary of the Democratic Party of Albania. Born and raised in Kukës,in Albania's northern border with Kosovo,Noka joined the Democratic Party in the early 2000s,and quickly started climbing the ranks. From 2012 to 2013,he was Albania's Minister of the Interior.
Llambi Gegprifti is a former Albanian politician and mayor of Tirana from 1986 through 1987 and 1989 through 1990. He was candidate-member of the Politburo of the Party of Labour of Albania for terms of 1971,1976,1981,and 1986.
Evelin Banev,also known by his nickname Brendo is a real estate developer,published writer,and former wrestler who has been convicted of money laundering and drug trafficking.
The Special Court for War Criminals and Enemies of the People,usually referred only as The Special Court,was a Socialist court set up during the spring of 1945 in the newly established Socialist Albania,which carried on the trial against those labeled as "people's enemies" and "war criminals". It was based on a decision taken by the Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation on 25 December 1944. Like the rest of the Eastern Europe,the purge against fascists and war criminals became a central part of the construction of society based on the Soviet model.
Adriatik Llalla is an Albanian lawyer. He served as the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Albania between 2012 and 2017. During the years 2008 to 2012 He was Inspector General of the High Inspectorate of Control and Audit of Assets and Conflict of Interest HIDAACI.
The 2017 Albanian opposition protests were a series of anti-government protests,largely in Tirana,which centered around poverty,corruption,the illicit drug situation in Albania,fear of electoral fraud in the parliamentary elections,and alleged manipulation of the voting process by the government.
Cannabis in Brunei is illegal and can be punishable by caning or the death penalty. Brunei Darussalam's legislation is controlled by its sultan and is based on the country's Sharia-Islamic beliefs. In accordance with these laws,Brunei native,Lam Ming Hwa,received the death sentence in 2004 and a Malaysian native,Muhammad Mustaqim Mustofa bin Abdullah,was sentenced to death in 2017.
Starting from 16 February 2019,the opposition parties organized a series of protests and rallies against the government to demand new elections and the formation of a technocrat government that would ensure the fairness of the electoral process,citing electoral fraud and corruption in the government as the main reasons for the need for change.
On 16 June 2014,around 800 heavily armed Albanian police officers began a large scale raid in the mountain village of Lazarat,targeting cannabis growers,as part of a nation-wide operation to quell illegal cannabis plantations. Armed drug gang members responded with fire from automatic rifles,RPG-7s and mortars. After a four-day siege,the police captured Lazarat and its surrounding fields. Fourteen villagers and mafiosos were arrested. No fatalities were reported. Following the capture of the village,the police destroyed around 91,000 cannabis plants.
