NIKOLLË LOKA
Av.ALFDRED DUKA
NIKOLIN KURTI
Part twenty-two
-Continuing the tradition of native Catholic clergy –
Continues from last issue
Cooperation for the state and only in its interest
While serving the sentence
Verbal process
In Tirana, on July 15, 1970. I, Iljas Haxhiaj, an investigator at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, asked the defendant Shtejfë Kurti.
Question: Tell me, what else was discussed on the subject of running away overseas at the dinner that was held in your room?
Answer: The matter of our escape abroad has been discussed as I have explained it in my proceedings, but in connection with this matter I have to add that, at the dinner or meeting that took place in my room, when we were talking about escaped abroad, first we had to go to Yugoslavia and then to Italy. As far as I remember, Zef Nishi or Pjeter Biba said that they could return the Yugoslavs to us, but I told them: Don’t worry about this matter, the fate that will find me, the same fate will find you.
Regarding this matter, I have taken into account that I continued to hold Yugoslav citizenship and, when I would move to Yugoslavia, not only I would be insured, but this would also be a support for others. That I continue to hold Yugoslav citizenship, this is true, because when I came to Albania in 1930, I did not emigrate, but I escaped from Yugoslavia and sought political asylum in Albania. I remember that in the year when I came to Albania, the general registration was done. On this occasion, I was in Tirana, I registered as an Albanian citizen. So, for Albania I have Albanian citizenship, while for Yugoslavia I have Yugoslav citizenship.
After I read the process and saw that my statements were written correctly, I signed it.
Investigator The arrested
Iljaz Haxhiaj, Shtjefen Kurti
Verbal process
In Tirana, on July 16, 1970. I, Ilias Haxhiaj, an investigator at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, asked the defendant Shtjefë Kurti.
Question: Do you continue to give us explanations about the hostile activity that you developed against the government?
Answer: At the dinner we had in my room, where Pjetër Biba, Mark (Bardhok) Marku and Zef Nishit were there, we talked about the strength of the Soviet Union and the possibilities it has to conquer Albania, regardless of what Mao said. What about Albania, that in the event of aggression against Albania, the Chinese people will not recognize either distance or borders to come to Albania’s aid, we have said that the Soviet Union can immediately invade Albania because it is a powerful country, especially militarily, it has modern combat equipment, while Albania does not have these.
Pjetër Biba, Bardhok Marku and Zef Nishi said, will the day be far when the Soviet Union and other countries attack Albania and overthrow this government, without letting anyone escape. I told them that, in front of a great power, such as the Soviet Union, Albania cannot resist them and will immediately capitulate, so this regime will be overthrown, but nevertheless I told them, there is a possibility that the Soviet Union, because of his interests, to encounter resistance from the countries of Western Europe, such as Italy, France and England, according to these countries they are not interested in the Soviet Union going to the Adriatic, from where it can later enter the Aegean and the Mediterranean.
At the time when the events in Czechoslovakia took place, Peter Biba asked me where this is located and if it is a big country? I told him that Czechoslovakia borders West Germany, which has claims against Czechoslovakia and for this reason the Soviet Union entered Czechoslovakia, however, the Soviet Union in Czechoslovakia has given freedom to the Catholic religion and that Catholicism is flourishing there but, in the opinion I told them that Dubcek’s regime could allow the development of Catholicism in Czechoslovakia even more, and eventually, it would eradicate communism, which would also influence other powers, including Albania.
I remember that it was in the month of January 1970, Mark (Bardhok) Marku, when we were traveling together, I on my way home: You shouldn’t talk to anyone against the government, because they might betray you, but talk to me about everything, because if they cut my flesh into pieces, I won’t say a word to you. It was about a conversation I had with Preng Sherrin, the coachman of the cooperative on one occasion, when I was traveling with his cart and I told him that I am surprised that this people, among whom I have come as the first parish priest and have built the church and the cell in Gurëz, now no one helps me, even with an egg.
I told him that I am surprised that so many people die and that it does not even occur to a person to bring me any alms for me, they said some mass, some bridges and other religious services. Prenga had already discussed this conversation with other people and that Bardhoku had heard about it and spoke to me in this case. I ordered Bardhok to speak to Prenga so that he would not open this word again. Bardhok told me that he will finish this job himself. Later, when I met Bardhok, I asked him if he had fixed that matter and he told me: Rest assured that this matter was settled.
In the talks I had with Pjetër Biba and Bardhok Marku on the issue of religion, I told them that the measure that was taken to eradicate religion in Albania was not right, because religion is a tool or a rein, in order not to it washes the person to do me harm. After I read the process and saw that my statements were written correctly, I signed it.
Investigator The arrested
Iljaz Haxhiaj, Shtjefen Kurti
Verbal process
In Tirana, on July 17, 1970. I, Ilias Haxhiaj, an investigator at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, asked the defendant Shtjefën Kurti.
Question: What else was discussed in the evening when you gathered in your room?
Answer: I don’t remember which of these three, Bardhoku,
Pjetri or Zefi asked me about democratic freedoms in Western countries, whether or not listening to foreign radio stations was prohibited in those countries, and I discussed the following issues: I told them that in Western countries people enjoy all democratic freedoms and to listen to foreign radio stations, because there, the political order is different from this one in Albania. We have a totalitarian state here, without other parties. Here in Albania, a person is not free to develop his political thoughts, because if it were so, there would be different parties, everyone according to their own views; the freedom of their bodies, the freedom of meetings, the freedom of demonstrations, rallies, the freedom to give speeches on the radio, the freedom to organize the election campaign, to vote where they want, to have their representatives in the Parliament, the freedom to maintain the rights of their party’s program and when they don’t like the actions of the government, to criticize them according to the party’s program. Let these opposition parties be free, whether or not they give their vote of confidence to the government in power, so we don’t have these democratic freedoms in Albania.
In other states, there is freedom of parties, which are in opposition one after the other according to the political views and the program laid out by each. They have the right, with their organ and press, to write to defend their program, to convince the people of their political line. The state in power guarantees them to write what we think, to organize rallies and meetings in the halls that the government makes available to each party. They are given the right to make speeches on radio or television, they have the right to criticize the government in power as well as with coalitions between parties, to pass the government in power in a vote of confidence.
To their question, i.e. the persons I mentioned above, why is it allowed to create communist parties in Western countries, I explained to them that if they did not allow these parties, then these countries would go towards a totalitarian state, like that of Hitler and Mussolini and there would be no real democracy.
As for the Church, even in those countries of the West, it has its freedoms, fully guaranteed, it has the right to its own organs, the right to speak, to assemble, to broadcast on the radio, whatever it wants, with anywhere different religious delegations, for international meetings, for congresses and vice versa and by inviting anyone, has the right to forcefully oppose any law that is presented for approval, which is contrary to the canons of the church, has the right without the permission of the government to build churches, to establish other parishes, to build male and female religious institutions, to open schools for all categories, to organize the youth in Catholic action, to send missionaries abroad. The Church also has its representative in foreign countries in agreement with them, who is called Nunc Apostolik. This performs the role of the representative of the Church in the relations of the Church with the state where it is accredited, conversely, other states also send their ambassador to the Vatican, who, like the first, performs state relations with the church. Like one and the other, they deal only with religious activities, not infringing on each other’s rights.
After I read the process and saw that my statements were written correctly, I signed it.
Investigator The arrested
Iljaz Haxhiaj, Shtjefen Kurti
Verbal process
In Tirana, on July 18, 1970. I, Iliaz Haxhiaj, an investigator at the Ministry of the Interior, asked the defendant Shtjefën Kurti.
Question: Do you continue to give explanations about the hostile activity you have carried out against the people’s power?
Answer: In the conversation that I had from time to time with Pjeter Biba, during 1969 and continuing until his arrest, both in his house and in the room where I slept, I told him that the demonstrations that take place in Western countries surprise me, because in this case the people take the freedom of the country better, they may think that there is no freedom there, to express their opinions; while we are also prohibited from listening to foreign radio stations; therefore the people and the youth can say according to my mind, how will the life of the people in those countries be? I told Peter that, in the countries of the West, people enjoy complete freedom and everyone has the right to speak, it is enough not to disrupt the public order, while we, in this government, do not dare to express any other political opinion.
In addition to Pjeter Biba, I also had these conversations with Mark (Bardhok) Mark and Zef Nish, sometimes with one, sometimes with the other, as the case may be, or all three of them, Pjetri, Bardhok and Zef, were together in the meetings that I have had with them, both at work and in my room, at the house of Shkurt Biba, during 1969. I have talked with them that from this government, we have been deprived of all freedom, be it political or religious, and we live in fear, like all opponents of this power. I talked with these three about various articles that are published in the press, about the wars that take place in other countries, and I said that in our press they write in these articles only the losses of the opponents and never write about the losses of the state, with which Albania has good relations with, except for the bombings that they are known for. I was talking about the war in Vietnam.
I also discussed that our press constantly writes about strikes and demonstrations that take place in Western countries and never writes about the constructions that take place in those countries, about the welfare of the people and about the organization of their schools.
I spoke to Pjeter Biba about the successes that medicine has achieved in Western countries and in particular in Italy. I had heard these things on the Roma radio station. Also, in the conversations I had with Pjetër Biba, Mark (Bardhok) Marku and Zef Nish, I told them that the Western countries have regulated the economy through the common market. In this organization, which includes six Western countries, in which other Western countries also want to participate, African and Asian countries have also entered, prices are set in full agreement of the members of this organization and their movement outside this market. None of them can raise or lower prices.
The peasantry of these countries is sure that their products will find a market within their own country or abroad in the markets of the participating countries; whereas in our country it is not like that. The work plan comes from above and that work will be done. From the production, the collection of the highest quality products will be ensured, the remaining part is of poor quality, it remains for the consumption of the people. This is why the people sometimes do not have the opportunity to buy as much bread as they need, because there is nothing left for the people to consume; so, the cooperative is forced to buy bread from the collection, to supply the people at a higher price than it sold the wheat to; that’s how discontent among the people happens. I also talked to them that the cooperatives, since they are under development, make large investments, hence the agricultural cooperatives during the year pay a low price for workers on working days, since they are not sure that at the end of the year, they will the account came out.
Even so, at the end of the year, after the plenary meeting, if the account does not come to the cooperative according to the investments, but debts remain, then the cooperative remains in debt to the members of the cooperative, there is nothing to pay them, hoping that next year cover debts. So, at the end of these conversations, with the arguments above, I told them that this system of cooperatives is not fair, it is not for the benefit of the people, but it impoverishes the people. Talking to Peter Biba, he told me, will there be an overthrow of this government? I told him that if the time came, I would walk around different cities of Albania, the main leader of the Party, telling the people about the misfortunes that the nationalists have had in this regime, how much blood has been shed by them, how many thousands of people have been sent in prisons, and how many others were sent to camps in the beginning, working in difficult conditions, with a piece of bread a day and being treated badly by the Internal Affairs bodies, without having any right where to go complain.
Also, in the conversations I had with Pjetër Biba, Bardhok Marku and Zef Nish, I told them that in the Western countries the poorest people live better than here in Albania. I said that the demonstrations and strikes in the Western countries are not because they have nothing to live on, but because the owners have big profits, they also want to improve their lives, they want to have their own cars, like many other friends have.; with the improvement of the economic situation at home as well as with something left over for the summer holidays. It also happens that some people think that they have a car, the boy or girl says, I want a car too, this time other and bigger exigencies have arisen. The workers there, in the Western countries, when they go to work, have their own cabin, where they leave the clothes, they came with and wear the work clothes and when they leave work they shower, wash and dress in the new clothes. they are not recognized as workers; like here in Albania, especially in agriculture, workers have shortages in food, whether for clothing and they have to go to work all day long.
After I read the process and saw that my statements were written correctly, I signed it. Memorie.al
The investigator the arrested
Iljaz Haxhiaj, Shtjefën Kurti
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