By Dashnor Kaloçi
Part twenty-two
Memorie.al / Exactly 43 years ago, on the morning of December 18, 1981, the Albanian Prime Minister Mehmet Shehu, who had held that position since 1953, was found dead in his bedroom (according to the official version, from a bullet from a pistol) in the villa where he lived with his family, at the entrance of the “Block” of the high leadership of the Albanian Party of Labor, just a few meters from the building of the Central Committee of the Albanian Party of Labor and also from Enver Hoxha’s villa. Although more than four decades have passed since that day, considered one of the most serious and notorious events of that regime, there is still no clear and accurate version regarding what happened to the former Albanian Prime Minister Mehmet Shehu on the night leading to December 18, 1981! However, even after the 1990s, dozens of testimonies and archival documents have been made public regarding that event, “the murder or suicide of Mehmet Shehu,” which continues to be the subject of numerous debates and discussions, even wrapping it further in mystery around the truth.
Based on this fact, in the context of publishing dozens of testimonies and files with archival documents from the secret fund of the former State Security and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, or the Central Committee of the Albanian Party of Labor, which we have published over the decades since the collapse of Enver Hoxha’s communist regime and his successor, Ramiz Alia, Memorie.al has secured the voluminous file “of the enemy Mehmet Shehu,” which has been extracted from the secret fund of the former State Security at the Ministry of Internal Affairs (now part of the fund of the Authority for Information on the Documents of the former State Security), where, with a few minor exceptions, most of them have never seen the light of publication and are made public for the first time in full.
In the mentioned file, there are the relevant facsimiles, the expert report of the investigative-operational group that was set up immediately on the morning of December 18, 1981, led by Koço Josifi (head of the Investigative Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tirana), the forensic doctors Dr. Fatos Hartito and Docent Bashkim Çuberi, the prime minister’s doctors, Milto Kostaqi and Llesh Rroku, as well as the criminalist expert from the Central Criminalistic Laboratory of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Estref Myftari, assisted by high officials of that ministry, Xhule Çiraku, Elham Gjika, and Lahedin Bardhi.
Also, in the voluminous file that we are making public, there are testimonies from the family members of former Prime Minister Mehmet Shehu, from the service personnel, and his escort group, as well as from all other individuals who were summoned and testified about that event. Moreover, the documents in question, which we are publishing along with the facsimiles and relevant photos, provide more information regarding this matter.
However, even though we are dealing only with archival documents, it should be emphasized that; knowing how that system operated before the ’90s, we cannot claim absolute truth regarding what is written there, as not only from the individuals who provided their testimonies, but also from the investigators of this case, it has been made known that the testimonies were obtained under pressure, intimidation, and physical and psychological violence, with some investigators going so far as to write them themselves while the witnesses or defendants merely signed them.
Continued from the previous issue
ARCHIVAL DOCUMENT WITH THE MINUTES OF THE INTERROGATION OF FEÇOR SHEHU, FORMER MINISTER OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, BY THE INVESTIGATORS OF THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, RAQI IFTICA AND PELIVAN LUÇI
MINUTES
(Of the interrogation of the witness)
Tirana, on May 7, 1982.
We, the investigators of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Raqi Iftica and Pelivan Luçi, resumed the interrogation of the defendant Feçor Shehu.
Question: You have been questioned about the meeting you had with the enemy Mehmet Shehu, two days before he committed suicide. Do you have any other response, apart from what you stated in the process dated 4.5.1982?
Answer: I have never met Mehmet Shehu at his house, at my request, except when he ordered for me to go there, as it is known that for a time he worked in his house, apart from the office. Therefore, I went home, except for those cases I explained in the earlier processes, and continuously at his request. The last case was his call for the return of Gani Kodra and Skënder Shehu from Sweden, according to the order he had received, which I was aware of from the secretary of the Central Committee of the Party. I remember this very well, as it related to the episode I mentioned above, for which I also informed the secretary of the Central Committee of the Party.
I do not remember the exact date, so I asked the investigators to fix this date through the letters that Mehmet Shehu sent, including to Gani Kodra, to return to Albania, because when he was charged by the ministry, the secretary of the Party Committee of the Ministry and the director of Intelligence were tasked to investigate the responsibilities of Gani Kodra concerning the violations he had committed with Skënder Shehu, as far as I recall, in that report was also a letter that Gani Kodra had received from Mehmet Shehu. If possible, this report should be included in the investigative file!
Question: The investigator has verified that you, the defendant, on December 16, 1981, in the evening hours, went and met with Mehmet Shehu at his house? What do you have to say?
Answer: It is categorically untrue that I went and met Mehmet Shehu at his house, after the meeting I gave explanations about above. For this date, my escort can also be questioned!
Question: Recall what movements you made on December 16, 1981, and who you had with you?
Answer: I never moved alone. During the time I was in the ministerial position, I did not move alone, without leaving the address with the operative and without an escort. Not only the date that I am being questioned about, but no other date, I do not remember to chronicle my movements, because I never set such a task for myself. The general rule of my life has been; office, home. I reiterate that every movement is recorded with the operatives.
Minutes after I read them and my statements have been reflected accurately, I sign.
Defendant Investigators
Feçor Shehu Raqi Iftica Pelivan Luçi
MINUTES
(Of the interrogation of the witness)
Tirana, on May 14, 1982
We, the investigators of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Raqi Iftica and Pelivan Luçi, resumed the interrogation of the defendant Feçor Shehu.
Question: Do you know Ali Çeno, the former head of the escort group of Mehmet Shehu, and what kind of relationship have you had with him?
Answer: I know Ali Çeno as the head of the second group, and during the time I was minister, I summoned him and asked for an explanation on one occasion, after he had engaged in irregular actions with Gani Kodra. This was because under Ali Çeno’s name, Gani Kodra had brought a motorcycle through customs, while in fact, the motorcycle belonged to the latter and not to Ali! In another case, I criticized him for having a very developed tendency to request materials that did not actually belong to him! So, several times he caught the director of the Second Directorate and asked for a motorcycle, supposedly to secure Mehmet Shehu’s boys, specifically Skënder, who was equipped with a motorcycle!
He made the same request to me, which not only did I not fulfill, but I told him it was not allowed. Toward the end, I criticized him for not informing me when Ismail Kadare, along with his wife, was at Mehmet Shehu’s house and was swimming specifically in the pool in Durrës, through Bashkim Shehu. For this incident, I reproached Ali that he should have signaled us. I also told him about Rikard Ljarja, who would go to Mehmet Shehu’s house, that he should have informed us, but Ali told me he did not know Rikard!
Question: We introduce you to his testimony dated 5.4.1982, where it is confirmed that you, on the evening of December 16, 1981, went and met with Mehmet Shehu at his house!
Answer: I read Ali Çeno’s testimony and the explanations he provided in the process dated 5.4.1982, and I want to say that: Ali Çeno confuses the date in this process because from December 16, 1981, until 5.4.1982, 20 months have passed. So, he confuses this date with the date when, at Mehmet Shehu’s request, I went to his house for the return of Gani Kodra and Skënder Shehu from Sweden to Albania; and up to the working room, I was accompanied by an officer from the second group, who at the moment before I entered Mehmet’s office, Fiqret Shehu came out. Therefore, it is not true that I went on December 16, 1981, to Mehmet Shehu’s house, but on the date I mentioned. Fiqret Shehu can also be questioned, as she saw me on the date when I went to the working office at Mehmet’s house!
Question: Do you know officer Baki Hakrama, an operative in the Second Directorate, and do you have anything to say about him?
Answer: I do not know Baki Hakrama. I do not know him!
Question: We introduce you to the explanations of witness Baki Hakrama, who, while on duty at the entrance of Mehmet Shehu’s house, saw you enter the house of Mehmet Shehu after 19:00 on December 16, 1981. What do you have to say?
Answer: I read the explanations given by Baki Hakrama in his testimony on May 7, 1982, and I do not agree that I went on December 16, 1981, to the house of Mehmet Shehu, for the same reasons I explained in my answer regarding the testimony given by Ali Çeno.
Question: Do you know officer Astrit Veliu, an operative of the Second Directorate, and do you have anything to say about him?
Answer: I do not know Astrit Veliu, but all three of these witnesses are in the same group that served near Mehmet Shehu.
Question: We introduce you to the explanations of Astrit Veliu in his testimony dated May 6, 1982, who during his service at the main entrance of Mehmet Shehu’s house saw you, the defendant, leaving this individual’s house after 20:20 on December 16, 1981. What do you have to say?
Answer: I read the explanations given by Astrit Veliu in his testimony dated May 6, 1982, and I do not agree that on December 16, 1981, I went to the house of Mehmet Shehu. The witness confuses the route I followed; as the actual road when I last went to Mehmet Shehu’s house is the road parallel to the main road of the Central Committee’s headquarters, thus east of Mehmet Shehu’s house. I request that for both the timing and the route, my former escort, Besnik Kasaj, as well as Fiqret Shehu, be questioned.
After I read the minutes and saw that my statements have been recorded accurately, I sign.
Defendant Investigators
Feçor Shehu Raqi Iftica Pelivan Luçi
MINUTES
(Of the interrogation of the witness)
Tirana, on May 16, 1982
We, the investigators of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Raqi Iftica and Pelivan Luçi, resumed the interrogation of the defendant Feçor Shehu:
Question: We introduce you to the certification dated 11.5.1982, issued by the Prime Minister’s office, which states that Mehmet Shehu, on December 16, 1981, at 17:00, received a Romanian government trade delegation, a fact which the witnesses Baki Hakrama and Astrit Veliu confirm corresponds to the date 16.12.1981, that you went to Mehmet Shehu’s house and met with him. What do you have to say?
Answer: This certification from the Prime Minister’s office that Mehmet Shehu received the Romanian government trade delegation on December 16, 1981, is a fact that I have no objection to, but it has nothing to do with me!
Question: Do you know officer Besnik Kasaj, and what has been your relationship with him?
Answer: I know Besnik Kasaj, as he was my escort, and I had a normal relationship with him.
Question: We introduce you to the explanations of Besnik Kasaj, given in his minutes dated May 7, 1982, confirming that you on December 16, 1981, went to Mehmet Shehu’s house. What do you have to say?
Answer: I read the explanations provided by Besnik Kasaj in his testimony dated May 7, 1982, and I recall that the last date I went to Mehmet Shehu’s house is the one I mentioned in my previous testimonies and not December 16, 1981. Regarding the car that I used to go to Mehmet Shehu’s, it should be as Besnik Kasaj says. After I stopped the car by the pine tree, I passed the soldier on the sidewalk opposite the Central Committee’s headquarters, and then entered the path of the garden that is parallel to the sidewalk. However, I insist, the date is not December 16, 1981, but the date when I was called for the return of Gani Kodra.
In order to clarify the date, I ask the investigators to verify with the Second Directorate through Besnik Kasaj and the escort who replaced him on which date Besnik Kasaj started his regular leave for the year 1981, as if my memory does not betray me, it should have been the second fortnight of December 1981.
Question: Do you know Nikolla Londo, a driver in the Ministry of Internal Affairs park, and what do you have to say about him?
Answer: I do not know Nikolla Londo.
Question: We introduce you to the explanations of Nikolla Londo, given in his testimony dated May 7, 1982. What do you have to say?
Answer: The car that Besnik Kasaj and Nikolla Londo mention must be true, but I do not remember what car I used to go to Mehmet Shehu’s house. Regarding the date of December 16, 1981, I am also surprised that this witness and others remember it, even down to the exact hour! The last time I visited Mehmet Shehu’s house was concerning the return of Gani Kodra, a date that can be confirmed with the letters that Mehmet Shehu sent to Skënder Shehu and Gani Kodra for their return to Albania.
After I read the minutes and saw that my statements have been recorded accurately, I sign.
Defendant Investigators
Feçor Shehu Raqi Iftica Pelivan Luçi
Tirana, on May 16, 1982
We, the investigators of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Raqi Iftica and Pelivan Luçi, resumed the interrogation of the defendant Feçor Shehu:
Question: We introduce you to the explanations of witness Besnik Kasaj, given in his testimony dated May 17, 1982, where it is confirmed that he started his regular leave for the year 1981 on December 24, 1981, and ended it on January 11, 1982. What do you have to say?
Answer: I became acquainted with the explanations of witness Besnik Kasaj given on May 17, 1982, where it states that he began his regular leave for the year 1981 on December 24, 1981, and ended it on January 12, 1982, and I have no other claims.
Question: Do you know officer Mystret Rama, and what do you have to say about him?
Answer: I know officer Mystret Rama and have nothing against him.
Question: We present to you his statements given in the minutes dated May 17, 1982, where it is confirmed that he replaced Besnik Kasaj, who went on leave, performing the duties of your escort from December 24, 1981, until January 11, 1982. What do you have to say?
Answer: I read the statements of witness Mystret Rama, which confirms that he replaced Besnik Kasaj from December 24, 1981, until January 11, 1981, during which Besnik was on regular leave, and I have nothing to say. It should be as they say, as I do not recall the exact date when Besnik took his regular leave for the year 1981.
Question: We introduce you to the certification issued by the Second Directorate, where from the cadre documents, it appears that Besnik Kasaj took his regular leave for the year 1981 from December 24, 1981, to January 11, 1982. What do you have to say?
Answer: I became acquainted with the certification issued by the Second Directorate dated May 17, 1982, and I am convinced that Besnik Kasaj began and ended his leave on the dates reflected in this document.
After I read the minutes and saw that my statements have been recorded accurately, I sign./Memorie.al
Defendant Investigators
Feçor Shehu Raqi Iftica Pelivan Luçi
Continues next issue
