By Dashnor Kaloçi
Second part
– The secret relationship with the deposition of border guard D. M.: “When I saw him leave, I pointed the gun and shot several times, with bursts. At this moment, I heard in front of me, an “oh”!
Memorie.al / While the hands of the clock marked 01:30 on October 2, 1986, the calm of that cold autumn night in the northernmost tip of Albania, in the area of Vermoshi, was broken by several bursts of automatic weapons, which followed from a target pistol, which lit up the whole country on that slope of Mali i Boja, and then, the barking of a dog and the calls and cries of people…! They were the soldiers of the Bashkim border post together with the volunteer forces of that area, (or as they were otherwise known “the riflemen”), as well as other forces of the Army departments, the Internal Affairs Branch of the Shkodra district and the Border Battalion, who covered that area, which since nearly ten days, when an alert situation was given, were in their positions, blocking the border line that was only 400-500 meters away from there, waiting to be captured alive or annihilated , two border violators, who were said to be coming from the depths, with the intention of escaping and crossing to Guci in Montenegro. The border unit soldier who opened fire, along with a member of the volunteer force, approached the silhouette of a man, who they found moaning and covered in blood from the bullets that had riddled his body.
A few minutes later, the soldiers of that border unit and other volunteer forces who rushed to the scene heard the barking of the border dog that his companion had put on the trail to make it possible to capture other offenders. It didn’t take long, when the border dog jumped on a bush, where another person was crouched upside down, and stuck his teeth into his back, ripping and tearing the military jacket he was wearing. After the call; “hands up, don’t move because we’re going to shoot”, the border unit approached him by handcuffing him behind and immediately approached the other group of soldiers and officers, who were standing around the other border violator, who was lying down on the ground, without signs of life, as he had only been able to utter two or three words, telling them that; his name was Sokol Vreshti and he was from the village of Bajzë. Something that was also confirmed by his friend, who was caught alive a few meters away, who told them that; his name was Gjelosh Gega, from the village of Bogë in the highlands of Shkodra, and together with Sokol, they were soldiers in a unit in Vërmik, Vlora.
After that, according to the orders of the chiefs and main cadres of the Internal Affairs Branch of Shkodra, who for a week were leading that search operation from the department of the Border Battalion, Gjelosh Gegë, handcuffed him with his friend, Sokol Vreshti ( already dead), and after putting them in the body of a “ZUK” vehicle of the Internal Branch, they started for Shkodër, accompanied by many border forces. For this unusual event, which happened almost 37 years ago, in addition to several meetings of the units of the Border Battalion that covered that area and those of the Internal Affairs Branch of the Shkodra district, where the border guards who had annihilated and captured alive two border violators were congratulated, rewarded (with exceptional permission) and decorated by the Presidium of the People’s Assembly.
Even his friend, Gjelosh Gega, (now 58 years old) who was captured alive by the border and volunteer forces, (who was sentenced to 16 years in prison) cannot give an accurate version of Sokol’s murder. for high treason against the country”), since that event happened at 01:30 at night and in the middle of the forest, where he had no chance to see anything! Neither the Vreshti family nor Gjeloshi can give an accurate version, if; Sokol Vreshti, was shot without warning by the border unit, or he was shot and killed, after he was asked to raise his hands, but because he was wounded in one hand, he raised only the other hand and at that moment, the border soldiers shot. Similarly, they still do not have accurate information and do not know the course of the event, therefore; how and when, Sokoli and Gjeloš, made plans and decided to escape from Albania, how they spent the period of nearly ten days, wandering the mountains in the area of Vermoshi, in an attempt to cross the border to Guci, who were the two people that they met by chance in the forest (in Vukël and Lëpushë) and that they immediately alerted the border authorities, to follow them, who were the persons who led that search operation for their capture and above all, who was the man who shot Sokol Vreshti, leaving him dead?!
Regarding these and others, they are made aware of a file from the Archive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, (formulary, investigative and judicial file), where everything from that tragic event that happened nearly 37 years ago is explained in detail. , in the area of Vermoshi.
THE SECRET DOCUMENT WITH THE MINUTES OF THE INTERROGATION OF THE DEFENDANT GJELOS GEGA, BY THE INVESTIGATOR OF THE SHKODA DISTRICT, SOKOL PUTO
Minutes of the interrogation of the defendant Gjelosh Gega, on 5.10.1986, I, Sokol Puto, investigator of the Shkodër District Investigation, based on Article 78 of the Criminal Procedure Code, questioned the defendant Gjelosh Gega, the son of Fran and Terezina , date of birth 1965, place of birth, Bogë Koplik, Albanian nationality, cooperative social status, education 8th grade, member of the Youth Union, is performing military service in the Military Department 3502 in Vlora. He has never been convicted. The family’s political stance during the National Liberation War was indifferent. Permanent residence Bogë-Koplik. He has never been elected to government bodies.
Question: You, the defendant, are accused of having attempted to escape abroad, in Yugoslavia, in collaboration with Sokol Vreshti, an offense provided for by article 47 gj+13+11 of the Criminal Code, what do you have to say?
Answer: Regarding the accusation against me, I understand it and I have to say that I fully accept it and I have to give these explanations. I am from the village of Bogë i Koplik, Shkodër district. In the family, I have my father Fran, who works in the cooperative, my mother, Teresa, who is a housewife, four brothers, Pal, who is a shepherd, Sokol, who is in school in the seventh grade, Alex, who is in the fifth grade. I’m the big boy. I also have four sisters, who are all married and are older than me. From my relatives, I have an uncle, Nik Gega, who fled abroad in 1965, together with several others, and today lives in America.
Two years ago, he sent us a letter and my father replied. Another thing longer for him, I don’t know. I myself was mobilized as a soldier in 1985 and was effective in Military Department 3205 in Vlora. This is a works department and I have worked in different places and now recently, in Vërmik, Vlora. In the department that I was in, in Vërmik and which had the number 8799/5, there were about 17 soldiers from Shkodra. Of all these people, I have associated with Sokol Vreshti the most. From May of this year, one day when I was staying in the ward with Sokol, he told me that he had a brother who escaped abroad and lived in America, and that he also intended to escape and go to his brother in America.
When he had this conversation with me, he also proposed to me to run away with him. I initially refused, saying that I had a house and family members. After that, about a month later, Sokoli made this proposal to me again and I started to waver in the opinion I had given the first time. A month ago, in a conversation I had with him, I finally agreed to run away together. As for when we would escape, he told me that when he was ready, he would let me know. After that, in September, Sokoli married his sister in Bajza and the command gave him permission, but for how many days, I don’t know. A day or two after Sokol had left on leave, the battalion commissar, Sotir Dema, met me and told me that; he was going to start me on leave for a few days, as a telegram had arrived that my brother was sick.
Since that day, he has completed my leave and I have gone home. When I went home, I saw that all the people in the house were fine and that no one was sick. Then it occurred to me that Sokol Vreshti had sent me the telegram. This is due to the fact that a week before Sokoli went on leave; he had told me that he was going home because he was marrying his sister and that if he found an opportunity, he would inform me that I should also go home, in order to escape together. For this, on Sunday 21.10.1986, I went from Boga to Bajze, where Sokoli had a house, and I met him. There he told me that he had decided to run away, to escape the next day, that is, Monday. I objected, telling him that we didn’t need that job, that we would be caught. Sokol told me that he had hopes that he would cross the border.
After that he asked me that; when I would leave for the department and I told him that I would leave for Wednesday. After that, I went home again. On Wednesday, around 10:00, I went down to Koplik, in order to go to the department. There at the restaurant, I also met Sokol, who met me again and told me that; he was determined to escape and wanted me to go with him. I have accepted and that both of us together, that night we went back towards Boga, where that night we slept outside on the mountain. We had a loaf of bread with us, which we bought at the restaurant in Koplik. We went in that direction, thinking of going through the mountain to get to Kelmend, after we slept that night on the mountain, above Boga.
There Sokoli told me to go from Thethi, but I told him that; I didn’t know the way and he told me that we were going from Kelmendi, that he knew the way. The second day, we walked all day and slept outside on the mountain again at night. This day, Thursday, while walking through the mountains, we met a man on the road and Sokol asked him where the road to Bordolec Pass was from. He showed us with his hand, in the direction of a mountain pass. During the conversation with him, we found out that the man was from Vukli, but I did not learn his name. He asked us where we wanted to go and Sokol told him; to a friend in Lëpushë. Sokol told that man, even the name of his friend, but I now remember who he is. Also, that man asked us where we were from and we told him; from Bajza and Boga.
After that, that man told us to wait ten minutes, until he took an ax and would accompany us, but we didn’t wait and left. We continued on our way and after an hour or so, we heard a rifle crack from behind and when we turned, I saw down in the ribs, some riflemen, who called to us to stop. At these moments, Sokol started running and I continued, running after him. Running, we entered a forest, hiding and spent the night there. During the night, we heard the noise of people looking for us. During this time, we had various conversations with each other, so that they wouldn’t catch us, kill us, etc. The next day, we walked through the mountains again and didn’t meet anyone along the way. This night too, we slept outside. On Saturday, walking again through the mountains, we met a woman with sheep and she asked us where we wanted to go and we said; in the Neck of Bordolec.
She asked us for permission, but we told her that we didn’t have it. After that, that woman accompanied us to the ward and called the soldiers down. At this moment, Sokoli ran away again and I ran after him. I saw that some soldiers were running behind us, but we were hiding in the forest and they, although they searched for us, did not find us. That night, we slept outside and on Sunday and Monday we walked again in the mountains, but without meeting anyone. On Monday, we went up the mountain, above a field, and Sokoli said that it was the houses of Vermoshi. Nearby we climbed a tree, where we ate plums and after crossing a stream, we climbed back up the mountain. On Tuesday, climbing up the mountain, we came across some guards, where there was also a building. They saw us and called us from afar, but we ran away again. Then, they fired several times with rifles.
After about an hour, walking through the mountain, we saw many lights in the distance, below the mountain, and Sokol told me that it was Gucia of Yugoslavia and we continued on our way in the direction of the lights. Going down, we heard a voice that shouted at us: “stop”! At this time, the Falcon was walking 15 meters in front of me, although I did not see it, because it was completely dark. After a while, the crackling of the machine gun started and I saw its flame. I immediately lay on the ground upside down and it didn’t move at all. After 10 minutes, I heard someone talking: “There’s one, here.” During this time, I moved a little from the country, but without leaving, because rockets were thrown that made light. After a while, I was approached by a border dog and with him, there was an officer. After a while, other people came and I was sent to the border post. Another thing, I have nothing to say. I read the process and signed it.
DEFENDANT INVESTIGATOR
(Gjelosh Gega)
MINUTES OF THE DEFENDANT’S QUESTION
In Shkodër, today on October 9, 1986, I, the investigator of the Shkodër district investigation, Sokol Puto, re-interrogated the defendant Gjelosh Gega:
Question: When questioned by the investigator, the witness Nik Gj. stated that he met with you, near the village of Vukël, on Friday, while you, the defendant, said that you met with him on Thursday, what is the truth? .
Answer: The truth is that we met with this person on Friday morning, as he himself says. The first night we slept on Boga, and the second night, on Thursday at dinner, we slept outside on the mountain, and on Friday morning, we met that villager from Vukli.
Question: Regarding your intention to escape abroad, did you talk to anyone else?
Answer: I have to say that, the conversations we had with Sokol Vreshti, we did not talk with any other person, but only with each other, the two of us.
Question: What was the reason that you both wanted to escape abroad?
Answer: I had no reason to try to escape. During this time that I thought about escaping with Sokol Vreshti, I thought about going to my aunt, who lives in America. And Sokoli told me that he also wanted to go to his brother, who had escaped and who also lived in America.
Question: Did you talk to anyone else, the defendant, about how you were going to get to America?
Answer: We talked to each other only to escape, but we didn’t think at all about how we would get to America. So, our goal was to go to America, but how we were going to get there, we had not thought about this work at all.
Another thing, I have nothing to say. After reading the process, I sign it.
DEFENDANT INVESTIGATOR
(Gjelosh Gega)
MINUTES OF THE DEFENDANT’S QUESTION
In Shkodra, today on 10.10.1986, I, the investigator of the Shkodra Investigation, Sokol Puto, re-interrogated the defendant Gjelosh Gega.
Question: You, the defendant, are also accused of the criminal offense of permanently avoiding military service, committed in cooperation, this offense provided for by article 139 + 11 of the Criminal Code. What do you have to say?
Answer: I heard this accusation against me; I understand it and I have to say that I accept it. With my action, I not only wanted to escape, but I avoided the mandatory military service that I was performing forever. Another thing, I have nothing to say. After reading the process, I sign it.
DEFENDANT INVESTIGATOR
(Gjelosh Gega)
MINUTES OF THE DEFENDANT’S QUESTION
In Shkodra, today on 20.10.1986, I, the investigator of the Shkodra Investigation, Sokol Puto, re-interrogated the defendant Gjelosh Gega.
Question: Finally, you, the defendant, are accused that, in cooperation with other persons, you tried to escape abroad to Yugoslavia, as well as permanently evaded the mandatory military service in cooperation, these offenses provided for by article 47 gj.11+13 and 139+13 of the Criminal Code. What do you have to say?
Answer: Both accusations against me, I fully accept and I am sorry for the guilt I have committed and ask for mercy. I have nothing else to say. After reading the process, I sign it.
THE DEFENDANT THE INVESTIGATOR
(Gjelosh Gega)
THE DOCUMENT WITH THE PROCEDURES OF THE INTERROGATION OF THE WITNESS RIFAT JAKUPI, COMMISSIONER OF THE UNITED BORDER POST OFFICE OF VERMOSH, BY INVESTIGATOR SOKOL PUTO
In relation to the case, I explain as follows: A couple of days ago, our post were given a situation that two soldiers from the deep, have left to escape abroad. We have taken all the measures in our sector, putting in service even the residents of the area. During these two days, we have continued the service without interruption. Yesterday afternoon, around 6:00 p.m., about 10-12 rifle shots were heard from Mount Boja, in the place called “Gropat e Ujit”. I took out some reinforcements towards the border line, and went after them myself.
Around 24:00, I was with two civilians of the unit and I heard machine gun shots, and I saw the thrown jacket. Myself, I immediately turned in the direction of the krismas. After me, the companion of the dog came. I approached the place where I had left the unit and met a soldier, D.M., who told me that; he had killed one of the offenders and the other had fled again. I went in the direction of the place where the soldier showed me and I saw a soldier lying down, giving up his soul. I have asked him; “How many people are you”, and he told me “two”. I left it there and went back to meet the other blocking units.
When the dog’s companion arrived, together with him, we chased the second offender, putting the dog on the trail. About 8-9 meters, it seems to me, the dog jumped on top of a person who was crouching in some bushes. I, together with the unit, saw that it was a person, a soldier, lying upside down. I just turned him around and asked him if he had any wounds and he said he didn’t. After that, we took him out on the street and took him to the post office, together with the wounded man, who had died. When I arrived at the post office, I learned that the soldier’s name was Sokol Vreshti, while the one who was alive was Gjelosh Gega. The latter tells him I am from Boga, while the murdered man is from Bajza.
When we checked them, we found their personal documents, an amount of money, a photograph, etc. We also found an address for the person killed in America. Another thing, I have nothing to say. I read the process and signed it.
Witness Investigator
(Rifat Çokaj)
THE DOCUMENT WITH THE RECORDS OF THE INTERROGATION OF SOLDIER D.M., OF THE BORDER UNIT OF THE UNITED POST OFFICE, BY INVESTIGATOR SOKOL PUTO
Minutes of the questioning of the witness
Today on 2.10.1986, in Vermosh, I, Sokol Puto, from the Shkodër district investigation office, interrogated as a witness of the Bashkim border post, D.M., born in 1965, with 7th grade education, living in… …, on duty soldiers at the Bashkim border post. Regarding the matter, I explain as follows: I am a second-year soldier at the Bashkim border post. Two days ago, we were given a situation that two soldiers, coming from the deep, wanted to escape. For this, I went to the service like all the other friends, around 18.00 and I returned from the service yesterday, after 24 hours.
At 17.00, we were given the situation again, that the two violators were walking towards the border line. I have gone to the service again, this time together with an old man from the village of Vermosh, whose name is Mark. All my friends had gone through different places of jam. Together with that man, I took the road in the direction of the “Deaf Stream” and we were ordered to take a place in the meadow with ferns. When we got there, we took a seat down the road. While waiting, after two hours, I heard a noise coming from the top of the mountain, coming down in our direction. Behind us, about 500 meters, was the border line.
At this time, I gave the old man I had with me, the signaling pistol and told him that; when I would stop, he would shoot up to light up the place. I waited for him to approach me, I spoke loudly: “stop, the slogan”. Immediately, I heard footsteps leaving and fired once into the air. After that, the noise went away again, and then I pointed the gun at the fern and fired several times, in bursts. At this moment, I heard an “oh” in front of me. I started to approach the boat, in the direction from which I had shot. At that moment, the post office commissar came to us, to whom I told that I had killed one, while the other ran away. Together with him, we approached the person lying down with the light and I saw that it was one of the murdered offenders.
There, the commissar brought the light closer to him and we saw that he was still alive. The commissioner asked him; “how many people are you”, and he replied with a half voice about “the second person”. We have left it lying around and pursued another. At this time, the guardian came there with the search dog and we put the dog on the trail. About 7-8 meters above, we saw another person, also a soldier, crouching in the bushes. I saw him alive and we took him away ourselves. Then other friends came, who took the corpse with them and came to the post office. I add that, when they brought the corpse, I found that it was about 10 meters away from the place where I shot. We asked the caught offender about his name and he said his name was Gjelosh, and he was from Boga. I have nothing else to say. I read the process and signed it. Memorie.al
Witness Investigator
(D.M.) (Sokol Puto)
The next issue follows
