Out of the spotlight: The rights of foreigners and minorities are still a grey area from Evzoni they and a small group of Moroccans were arrested by Greek police, who ordered them all to lie down and then proceeded to beat and kick them. In an interview to the Albanian media Gurali Dikellari said: “They beat us savagely, telling us ‘You want Greater Albania. You want Cameria.’” Gurali Dikellari momentarily lost consciousness after a particularly sharp blow to the genitals. They were then taken to the local police station where, according to Gurali Dikellari, police checked their records on computers and confirmed that their documents were in order. By the morning Gurali Dikellari had a temperature and was suffering from severe swelling in the genital area. He was taken from the police station to hospital, where he was given tranquilizers after he confirmed that he did not have enough money to pay for an operation. He and Besnik Lika were forcibly returned on 14 December 2003 to Kapshticë border point. They were subsequently examined by a forensic doctor from Korçë who found that Besnik Leka had injuries to a rib and one of his legs. The doctor also recommended that Gurali Dikelari return to Pogradec to be operated on. A surgeon at Pogradec hospital informed the press the following day that Gurali Dikellari had undergone an operation for internal haemorrhaging, an injury resulting from being kicked in the genitals.79 • Artan Kaculi, aged 21, from Rushkull village, Durrës district, clandestinely crossed the border into Greece on foot, together with his brother, on the night of 30/31 October 2004. He knew the way well, having previously spent periods of up to 18 months working in Greece. Early in the morning of 31 October he was observed by a Greek police patrol: “I ran into a wood on the outskirts of Florina but the police managed to catch me. They were angry and began to beat me… They punched me, kicked me and beat me with rubber truncheons. I was lying on the ground yelling, but they 42 struck me without mercy. I was frightened they would break my leg or hand, and I curled up into a ball and covered my head with my hands. Perhaps they would have killed me, but by good luck one of their superiors came and told them to stop beating me. They took me to the police cell, where they held me for a night and day… and from Florina police station they took me to Kapshticë [border point]”. According to an interview which Artan Kaculi gave to the newspaper Shekulli, as the police officers arrested him, they shouted: “Thrown down your pistol, grenade, whatever you have on you” [he was unarmed], and then struck him, saying: ‘You damned Albanian, we’ll kill you!’. He arrived at Kapshticë on the evening of 1 November 2004, where Albanian police officers, who observed that he was bruised and injured, took a statement from him and drove him to Korçë hospital. After receiving first-aid he returned home, the last section of the journey on foot, despite his injuries, because he did not have the money to pay for transport. He later remarked to Shekulli: “Why did they have to ill-treat me? I’m not a criminal, just a poor guy forced to cross the border to earn his bread. Why did they have to insult me? I’m proud to be Albanian. If they wanted to sentence me for crossing the border illegally, that’s OK.” On 5 November 2004, when Artan Kaculi was interviewed by a representative of the Albanian Helsinki Committee (AHC), bruises on his head and parts of his body were still visible, he felt pain when he stood up or sat down and could not use his left arm. He complained that he could not afford to buy medicines.80 • On the night of 21 March 2004 Valter Begolli, aged 43, from the village of Menkulas village (Devoll district), near the Greek frontier strayed over the border while looking for his 13-year-old son, who had disappeared some hours previously. Just inside the border he was observed by a Greek border guard patrol who called out to him to stop. He was frightened and tried to run back into Albanian 79 Koha Jone, Shekulli and Panorama, 16 December 2003; Shekulli, 17 December 2003. Amnesty International 5 October 2005 80 Shekulli, Korrieri, Panorama, 3 November 2004. AI Index: EUR 25/016/2005