Despite the threats, Alia reached out to the world. In New York two Albanian diplomats met secretly with U.S. officials at the United Nations to discuss reestablishing diplomatic ties. In May the government opened telephone lines to the West, allowing Albanians to speak directly with relatives abroad for the first time since World War Two. To Albanians’ surprise, the new telephone book included a list of international codes. That month parliament legalized private practice for lawyers and reopened the Ministry of Justice, which was closed in 1968. It removed internment and expulsion as punishments, and reduced the illegal crossing of Albania’s borders from a counter-revolutionary act to a criminal offense. Parliament also redefined the notorious Article 55 of the penal code—“Agitation and Propaganda against the State”—which the state had used for years to imprison and execute critics. An amendment abolished the death penalty for “anti-socialist agitation and propaganda” and narrowed the definition to acts aimed at “overthrowing the state and social order as defined in the constitution.” Criminalization of religious propaganda was removed.
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