The Unfinished Business of rT ansitional Justice: Reparation of oF rmer Political Prisoners in Post-Communist Albania Political persecution is defined as any act or omission performed from 8 November 1941 to 22 March 1992 by any armed formation or individual, of the National Liberation Army, state security, police, army or local government bodies by order or decision of party structures, combat, or state organs of the Albanian Communist Courts when this act or omission has caused the loss of life, liberty, civic rights, kulak designation, deportation, and any other deprivation of the participation in the political, economic and social life of the individual for the sake of convictions or his political or religious attitude.40 The law has categorized those prosecuted by the communist regime in five categories:41 Nevertheless, no clear definition is provided about political prisoners. Article three of the Status Law refers to political prisoners as ‘persons who have been convicted with deprivation of liberty or have been exiled internally due to persecution. The Law on the Reparation of Former Political Prisoners42 adopted in 2007 defines political prisoners as persons who have been confined in prison, psychiatric hospital, prison hospital or confinement during interrogation. The process of financial compensation itself is more easily understood if divided into four periods. The first period 1991 - 1997 constituted the start of the reparation of political prisoners. During this period political prisoners were more successful in voicing their demand for reparations, both material and immaterial, as we will see below. The adoption of three laws, in 1991, the Status Law in 1993 and the controversial Genocide Law in 1995 indicates the influence that political prisoners had during this period compared to the other periods. However, due to the tumultuous political situation in the aftermath of the fall of the communist regime, exploitation of political prisoners for political gains and a serious lack of political will, rendered most of the legal provisions and promises for reparation unfulfilled - including the financial compensation. The second period 1997 – 2005 is characterized by a lack of developments regarding reparations. Some members of the former communist elite arrested for abuse of public funds in 1993 or under the Genocide Law in 1995 were set free in 1997. The whole conviction process and their release are characterized by a total lack of transparency. Little information exists about the judicial process and their discharge.43 Even the majority of political prisoners interviewed for this study had a blurred memory of this period. The third period 2007 – 2013 marks the restart of the reparation process. In 2007 the government adopted the Law on the Reparation of Former Political Prisoners44 regulating financial compensation for former prisoners and their family members. The compensation payments started in 2009 after several protests by former political prisoners. Some interviewees stated that the reparation process would not have started without the tragic event when during a protest in 2009 a political prisoner self-immolated by setting himself on fire and this is discussed further below.45 The fourth period from 2014 to the present, when the majority of political prisoners have received their financial compensation in up to 10 installments and the process for compensating family members of victims is in progress. Out of twenty interviewees, only one had not received the financial compensation. 40. Article 2, Law 7748/1993 41. Ibid, Article 3 42. Law no.9831, date 12.11.2007 For the Compensation of Former Politically Prosecuted by Communist Regime 43. After the social unrest in 1997 former communist elite imprisoned were set free and latter with a Constitutional Court decision they were declared innocent and the court ordered compensation for miscarriage of justice. There is almost no public information about these trails and the public has forgotten that these trials took place. The harshest punishments for the former communist elite were given in the period 1995 – 1996 trails under the controversial Genocide Law, however, all the convicted were set free during the 1997 social unrest. Albanian Telegraphic Agency (November 1996) < http://www.hri.org/news/balkans/ata/1996/96-11-05.ata. html#15> accessed 3 October 2019 44. Law no.9831, date 12.11.2007 For the Compensation of Former Politically Prosecuted by Communist Regime 45. Xhavit Lohja (22 June 2019, Shkoder); Fadil Daja (21 July 2019, Tirane); Angjelin Dabardaku (20 July 2019, Tirane) 37