By Dashnor Kaloçi
Part five
Memorie.al/ On November 5, 1975, exactly 49 years ago, the Chairman of the Supreme Court of the People’s Republic of Albania, Aranit Çela, through a letter marked “Top Secret,” addressed to the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, enclosed a copy of that court’s decision, with a summary of the indictment for the death sentence by firing squad, of the three former generals and highest leaders of the Ministry of Defense: Minister Beqir Ali Balluku, Chief of the General Staff of the Army, Petrit Taulla Dume, and Director of the Political Directorate, Hito Shaqo Çako, as well as the sentencing of Rrahman Parllaku, former Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Army, in the Ministry of People’s Defense, to 25 years in prison.
Their trial, held from October 25 to November 5 of that year, in an improvised hall on the premises of Unit 313 in Tirana (otherwise known as the “Old Prison” or “Kaushi”), where they also underwent the investigation process and remained isolated and under strict security measures since the period of their arrest on December 6, 1974. The arrest of Balluku, Dume, Çako, and Parllaku came after a period of approximately six months of meetings, active sessions, and plenums, held with the highest cadres of the Ministry of People’s Defense, the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Albanian Party of Labor (PPSH), and the Politburo, where Enver Hoxha personally assisted and directed the majority of them.
The attack on Beqir Balluku, who for years held the position of Minister of People’s Defense and First Deputy Prime Minister in the government led by Mehmet Shehu, as well as a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the PPSH, began in June-July 1974, with the expanded meeting of the Army Active, held at the former “Zog’s Villa” in the city of Durrës. That meeting was directed by Mehmet Shehu and Hysni Kapo, where Balluku, for the first time since 1945, was not on a meeting presidium but in the hall, where he was forced to answer dozens of questions posed by his subordinates. Everything that was happening there in that hall, and which would continue until the day of his arrest, was prepared based on a meticulously crafted scenario by the main leaders of the high leadership of the PPSH, such as Mehmet Shehu and Hysni Kapo, conceived and personally orchestrated by Enver Hoxha.
After that Active with the highest cadres of the Army, Balluku was also analyzed in the meetings of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the PPSH, where Enver Hoxha first gave the orientation for the attacks against him, accusing him as: “the head of the putschist group in the Army” and “the greatest traitor Albania had had until that time.” Following those Politburo meetings, Balluku was also analyzed in the Fifth Plenum of the Central Committee of the PPSH, held on July 25, 1974, where he was attacked by the majority of the plenum members.
At the end of that meeting, Balluku was expelled and dismissed from all party and state functions, but, unlike many former high officials and personalities of the high communist leadership (who had been struck and punished years earlier, and were arrested and handcuffed as soon as they left the meeting hall), he was allowed to go home! Where after ten days, along with part of his family, he would be interned in the town of Roskovec, in the Fier district, where he was arrested on December 6, 1974.
By now, all these and other facts about Beqir Balluku, the former Minister of People’s Defense and First Deputy Prime Minister of the government led by Mehmet Shehu, who until 1974 was considered one of Enver Hoxha’s closest collaborators and most loyal men, are very well known, as dozens and dozens of testimonies and archival documents have been published since the 1990s, shedding light on his life and career, from the period when he was the main leader of the Tirana Guerrilla Units and commander of the Second Assault Brigade of the National Liberation Army, as well as the entire period at the head of the Ministry of People’s Defense, until July 1974.
What remains an almost unsolved and unknown mystery, which is still being debated today after almost five decades, are the main reasons and causes that compelled Enver Hoxha to strike Balluku and the two main leaders of the Ministry of Defense, Petrit Dume and Hito Çako, sentencing them to death as: “The Heads of the Putschist Group in the Army”! Along with this mystery, which may never be solved, the archival documents containing the minutes of the meetings of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly of the People’s Republic of Albania, where the requests and pleas for pardon from the three main former leaders of the Ministry of Defense, Balluku, Dume, and Çako, were discussed, are almost unknown.
Based on this, Memorie.al is publishing in several issues these archival documents, which contain the discussions of all members of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, starting from its head, Haxhi Lleshi (Chairman), Rita Marko (Deputy Chairman), Telo Mezini (Secretary), as well as members: Jovan Bardhi, Muharrem Sefa, Naunka Bozo, Nuredin Hoxha, Spiro Moisiu, and Zinja Franja.
Continues from the Previous Issue
ARCHIVAL DOCUMENT WITH THE ORDER OF THE MINISTER OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, KADRI HAZBIU, FOR THE EXECUTION OF THE DECISION OF THE PRESIDIUM OF THE PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY, REGARDING THE DEATH SENTENCE BY FIRING SQUAD OF BEQIR BALLUKU, PETRIT DUME, AND HITO ÇAKO
1 – Decision of the Presidium
REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA “Secret”
PRESADIUM OF THE PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY Tirana, 5.11.1975
No. 850/1 Prot.
Ministry of Internal Affairs
Investigation Directorate
Prosecutor General
For notification:
Supreme Court, Tirana.
We inform you that at today’s meeting, the Presidium of the People’s Assembly reviewed and decided to reject the requests for pardon of the following persons sentenced to death (by firing squad), according to Decision No. 10, dated 5.11.1975, of the Special Military Court:
- Beqir Ali Balluku
- Petrit Taulla Dume
- Hito Shaqo Çako.
The court’s decision is to be executed.
Secretary of the Presidium
Telo Mezini
(Seal and Signature)
2 – Execution Order
REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA
MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS
No. 52, Tirana, November 5, 1975
Subject: – On the execution by death (shooting) of three convicts.
Ministry of Internal Affairs
(Directorate of Investigation)
Tirana
For notification: Prosecutor General, Tirana
Based on Decision No. 10, dated November 5, 1975, of the Special Military Court, the following persons have been sentenced to death (by firing squad):
- Beqir Ali Balluku.
- Petrit Taulla Dume, and
- Hito Shaqo Çako.
Since the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, with letter No. 850/1, dated November 5, 1975, announces the rejection of their request for a pardon,
I ORDER:
That the convicts Beqir Ali Balluku, Petrit Taulla Dume, and Hito Shaqo Çako be executed by death (firing squad), at the designated location, on November 5, 1975, at 16:00 (4:00 PM).
I charge the designated group of the Investigation Directorate with their execution.
Before being executed, the above convicts must be notified that their request for a pardon has been rejected by the Presidium of the People’s Assembly.
After the execution, the person tasked with this duty must draw up the minutes of the execution of the decision, which also contains the final words of the executed individuals.
Minister of Internal Affairs
Kadri Hazbiu (Signature)
ARCHIVAL DOCUMENT WITH THE MINUTES OF THE EXECUTION OF BEQIR BALLUKU, HITO ÇAKO, AND PETRIT DUME, SIGNED BY NEVZAT HAZNEDARI, WHO WAS APPOINTED FOR THEIR EXECUTION, AND THE DOCTOR AND PROSECUTOR WHO ASSISTED DURING THEIR EXECUTION
3 – Minutes of Execution
In Tirana, on 5.11.1975
Based on the order of the Minister of Internal Affairs, dated 5.11.1975, at 16:00 (4:00 PM), at the designated location, in the presence of the prosecutor, Murat Kamani, and the doctor, Nevzat Vigani, the death sentence was executed by me, Nevzat Haznedari, the appointee of the Investigation Directorate, for the conspirator enemies: Beqir Ali Balluku, Petrit Taulla Dume, and Hito Shaqo Çako.
Before the execution, each of these enemies was notified by the prosecutor that the Presidium of the People’s Assembly had rejected their requests for a pardon. Following this, they stated:
- Beqir Ali Balluku: – Did not speak at all.
- Petrit Taulla Dume: ‘Long live the people, long live the Party!’
- Hito Shaqo Çako: ‘Good’.
In conclusion, their execution was carried out by me, Nevzat Haznedari, and after they were examined, the doctor Nevzat Vigani confirmed their death. Memorie.al
The person charged with the execution, Nevzat Haznedari (Signature) |
The Prosecutor, Murat Kamani (Signature) |
The Doctor, Nevzat Vigani (Signature) |
