Dashnor Kaloçi
Part four
Memorie.al publishes some archival documents extracted from the Central State Archive in Tirana (the fund of the former Presidium of the People’s Assembly of the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania), which belong to 1983 and are part of a file labeled “Top Secret ”, where all the correspondence between the Supreme Court of the People’s Republic of Albania, the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Central Committee of the PPSh is located, regarding the materials in charge of four former senior officials of the leadership and the Albanian government, such as: Kadri Hazbiu, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the ALP, Minister of Internal Affairs and Minister of People’s Protection, Llambi Zicishti, Minister of Health, Feçor Shehu, Deputy Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs , as well as Llambi Peçinit, director of the Directorate of Physical Protection and Security of the senior leadership of the APS, who in 1982 were arrested as “enemies of pullit” and were held in the investigation of Tirana near “Department 313”, with the charge: “associates of the police agent Mehmet Shehu”. In the file in question, in addition to the indictment of the Supreme Court of the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania (chaired by Aranit Çela), which sentenced to death Kadri Hazbi, Llambi Pečin, Feçor Shehu and Mihallaq Ziçishti, there are also documents with the minutes of the meeting of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly chaired by Ramiz Alia, (where the following participated: Rita Marko, Xhafer Spahiu, Mine Guri, Sihat Tozaj, Eleni Selenica, Elmaz Puto, Faik Çinaj, Ibrahim Gjevori, Nik Shyti, Petrit Gaçe, Rrahman Hanku, Simon Ballabani, Stefan Qirjako, as well as invited the President of the Supreme Court, Aranit Çela and the Prosecutor General of the Republic, Rrapi Mino), where the majority of its members discussed, considering the requests that the four defendants had sent to that high forum, for the pardon of life.
Continues from last issue
The ‘Top Secret’ document with the minutes of the meeting of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly of the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania, regarding the requests made by Kadri Hazbiu, Llambi Ziçishti, Feçor Shehu and Llambi Peçini, for the pardon of life… !
Top Secret
Minutes
Held at the meeting of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, on Friday, at 9:00 a.m.
Friends participated in the meeting: Ramiz Alia (President), Rita Marko, Xhafer Spahiu, Mine Guri, (Vice Presidents), Sihat Tozaj (Secretary), Eleni Selenica, Elmaz Puto, Faik Çinaj, Ibrahim Gjevori, Nik Shyti, Petrit Gaçe, Rrahman Hanku, Simon Ballabani, Stefan Qirjako, (Members). My friend Lumturi Rexha (Antare) is missing for health reasons. Comrades Aranit Cela (President of the Supreme Court) and Rrapi Mino (General Prosecutor) have been invited to participate.
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: As you are aware, a few days ago the court process was held for the group of conspirators, for the enemies of the People’s Party, Kadri Hazbiu, Feçor Shehu, Fiqrete Shehu, Llambi Peçini, Llambi Ziçishti, and their entire gang. Their judgment was divided into two groups.
An open trial was held for civilians, while a closed trial was held for military personnel such as: Kadri Hazbiu, Feçor Shehu, Mihallaq Ziçishti, and others. This was done because in the second trial, there were issues of great state interest, especially related to military problems and State Security problems, which should not be made public.
In conclusion, the Court, in addition to the other sentences it gave which are not within our competence to review, also gave four death sentences. Specifically, he sentenced to death: Kadri Hazbi, Feçor Shehu, Llambi Pečin, and Llambi Ziçishti. All four of them have prayed to the Presidium of the People’s Assembly for the forgiveness of their lives.
According to the law, death sentences are reviewed by the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, even if there is no request for life pardon. And precisely to examine these decisions, the Presidium of the People’s Assembly has convened. Since this trial was of great importance, Comrade Aranit Çela prepared a summary of both decisions and presented it to the Presidium of the People’s Assembly.
I propose that my friend Sihat Tozaj read this material so that my friends will be better informed and then we can decide. In this meeting, we have called the President of the Supreme Court, Comrade Aranit Çela, and the General Prosecutor, Comrade Rrapi Mino, because the members of the Presidium may have some questions. Then we begin.
COMRADE SIHAT TOZAJ: (Reads the summary of decisions prepared by Comrade Aranit Çela).
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: So this is the relationship presented by the Supreme Court. The trial fully proved that we were dealing with a gang of conspirators, sworn enemies of the Party and the People, who for 40 years in a row have been in our bosom, like dangerous snakes, for the destinies of the Party and the People, for the destinies of the Socialism.
In the trial, all these facts that we mentioned in the report prepared by comrade Aranit Çela, were proven not only through the statements and affirmations of these defendants, but were also re-verified with a multitude of statements and numerous witnesses.
About 250 witnesses were heard about their hostile activity at the trial. As it appears from the relation, Kadri Hazbiu, Feçor Shehu, Fiqrete Shehu, Llambi Peçini, Llambi Zicishti, Mihallaq Zicishti, etc., have become agents of foreigners since the time of Koci Xoxes, that is, since the first days of liberation.
Kadri Hazbiu, Feçor Shehu, Mihallaq Ziçishti, Llambi Peçini, and Nesti Nase, have worked in the State Security bodies since 1945, 1946, 1947, and in that period they were active in their activity, under the leadership of Koci Xoxes. Even as it was proven in the trial with numerous facts, they also participated in crimes that were committed during the time of Koci Xoxes.
But as it is known at that time, the Party did not remove all the people who worked in the Internal Affairs bodies, but tried to make differences with them. Thus, only a part of them were removed, who at that time were judged to be guilty, such as: Nesti Kerenxhi, Vaskë Koleci, Myftar Tare, Vangjo Mitrojorgji, and some others?
But those who left were exactly this group that we mentioned. Of course, such a thing was done without really knowing how far their guilt has gone. But what happened?! It happened that after Koci Xoxes, Mehmet Shehu came to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. That is, one enemy left, and another more ferocious enemy came, an enemy with greater experience, an agent of foreigners since before the liberation of the country.
And this is fully proven by the various documents that were presented at the trial. Mehmet Shehu, at the suggestion of the Yugoslavs, took under his wing all this gang that remained from the group of Koci Xoxes, i.e., Kadri Hazbiu, Feçor Shehu, Llambi Pechini, Mihallaq Ziçishti, who were employees of the State Security. Likewise, Nesti Nase was an employee of the State Security.
The latter, in the years 1945-1947, was near the Yugoslav mission in New York, as a detective of the State Security, allegedly engaged in work with political emigration. Mehmet Shehu took all these under his wing and they continued their hostile work now under the direction of another master, that of the traitor Mehmet Shehu.
In addition to the enemies we mentioned, there were also Panajot Plaku, Maqo Çomo, etc. All these together made a group that was manipulated, directed and led by Mehmet Shehu. All these have continued their hostile activity to sabotage the socialist construction on the one hand, while on the other hand, to subvert our popular power and in particular to liquidate the Leader of our Party, Comrade Enver Hoxha.
It is already quite clear, we also know from the history of the Party that all the blows of all the enemies have been directed at Comrade Enver, who represents the consistent Marxist-Leninist leader of the Party and our People, who has always strictly followed the line of Marxist-Leninist right of our Party.
Therefore, all the blows, both during and after the War, were directed against Comrade Enver Hoxha. These thugs have followed the same tactics that our enemies have followed. Why?! That it didn’t work for you, and that it was difficult for them to go out face to face. That’s why they worked under the rug, just like spies.
They did not come face to face either, as they were not a political-ideological opposition group that did not agree with the Party line, on one issue or another. But they were ordinary spies who acted according to the orders they received from various espionage agencies. This is exactly one of the characteristics of this group.
This group of thugs was not independent in its actions, but was instigated, and organized, by someone else. So there was foreign espionage as the director, while these were marionettes that moved according to the instructions they received from them. If you look at the course of events, you will notice that this group, as it was proven in court, appeared on the scene at key moments of our development, of the development of socialism in Albania.
For example after Koci Xoxe was struck, and his pro-Yugoslav line, it was natural that this group would gather together in order to consolidate its goals and escape the coup of 1948. Therefore from 1948 onwards until 1956, we see a relative lull in the actions against the Party. But on the other hand, we see efforts to consolidate positions and increase their authority.
Therefore, as explained in the report presented by Comrade Aranit Çela, it appears that during this time they, being in charge of the Internal Affairs bodies, have tried to increase their authority by taking advantage of the great struggle that our people have waged together with the Pursuit Forces, against various saboteurs and bandits.
You remember the period of 1950-1953. It was the period of the war against numerous armed gangs that came to our country. Why?! That the various espionage agencies found it necessary to act from the outside to put their agents to sleep inside.
And this happened because if these agents were set in motion, they could be discovered as the events related to those of 1948, which was not a distant time. This was dangerous. Therefore, they acted through diversionary gangs.
But the gangs here met with great popular resistance. You remember that at that time, we had all the people armed and they were thousands of people. Even in the State Security bodies, there were a large number of honest people and communists who did not know what Mehmet Shehu or Kadri Hazbiu was, in the agent sense, but they implemented the Party’s directives for the fight against gangs and the liquidation of theirs.
This heroic struggle of the masses of the people, of the State Security bodies, and of the Follow-up Forces, they used to increase their authority. In the trial, especially in the military trial, a series of manipulations that this gang has done, even up to an agreement with the Americans, came out.
Thus, for example, the State Security bodies, in Vlora, dictated the bandit Xhelo Koçiu, together with his group, and proposed to the Ministry of Internal Affairs that he be beaten.
But the Americans were interested in this group getting out and not being arrested. In this way, the escape of this gang was organized. And in fact, Xhelo Koçi’s gang ran away during the day for the sun. And for compensation, they asked to send another gang and liquidate this one in order to hide what they did and gain fame (Xhelo Koçiu is the father of the traitor Halim Xhelo).
So they made a compensation for the loss with the profit of the agents, in order to be justified in front of the public with the reasoning “It is true that Xhelo Koçiu ran away from us, and we could not catch his gang, but there are also defeats because the enemy is fierce and cunning, but we caught the other gang”. So in this period, they have made such manipulations to increase their prestige.
It came in 1956. It is a key moment in the history of our Party. It is a key moment since, as you know, throughout the Socialist Camp, Khrushchev’s revisionist current began to take revenge. This was reflected in particular with the agreement that was made with Yugoslav revisionism. So it was 1948.
The Informburo’s fight to unmask Titism was being revised. Thus began the close ties with Titism. At that time, the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was underway. After him, all the trials that had been done against the Titian elements in the countries of the former People’s Democracies were revised.
Note here Rajku in Hungary, Kostov in Bulgaria, etc. The line of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, as is known, opened a revisionist path in the international communist and labor movement. Our Party was before its Congress that was held in May 1956. From the history of the Party, we know what official pressures the Soviets have made to change our line.
At that time the Soviets, through their delegates in our Party, and through discussions in official talks, requested that we revise the Koci Xoxes issue and our line, with the aim of adapting it to the line of the XXth Congress of Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Our party did not accept such a thing. Since the stance of our Party with Comrade Enver at the head, was against the opportunistic line of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, for the class war, for the Stalin problem, for peaceful co-existence, for the issue of the kulaks, etc. . Memorie.al
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