By Prel Milani
Part Two
Memorie.al / The historic deputy of Shkodra, Professor Kolë Prela, was sacrificed 75 years ago for the freedom of speech. Therefore, I decided to make this historical remembrance on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of his execution by firing squad. Professor Kolë Prela is the first opposition figure who openly demanded political pluralism, in the infamous Parliament of 1946, but he was sentenced to death as a traitor to the people. He was a laureate doctor in Turin, scholar, publicist, and art critic. He was an old anti-fascist, founder of the Regional National Liberation Council of Shkodra. He was the organizer of the Anti-fascist Movement in the District of Dukagjin and of the raising of the “Perlat Rexhepi” Battalion.
Continued from the previous issue
Professor Kolë Prela’s statement, as the deputy of Dukagjin in defense of Father Gjon Shllaku, which we cited in the previous issue (“The Execution of the First Opposition Deputy Kolë Prela”), has been attested to by several newspapers of the time. The newspaper “Koha e re” (New Time), on January 26, 1946, referring to this fact, writes: “Professor Kolë Prela, deputy in the Constitutional Assembly, defends Father Gjon Shllaku…! Answering the prosecutor’s question: ‘Have you read “Hylli i Dritës” (The Star of Light)?’ – ‘yes,’ – he replied. – ‘And what impression did his writings and those of others make on you?’ – ‘I don’t understand you, why do you ask about such things, which were allowed to be published and read legally’?!
– ‘What kind of society was that Antonian one?’ – ‘The people’s representative answers: – A religious society.’ In this case, the people in the hall started whistling and stomping their feet..! – ‘I, in the name of the people,’ – the prosecutor reacts – ‘cannot ever accept such a thing. I am sorry to attack a man who is considered part of the movement, but I know to tell you that you know Gjon Shllaku’s activities well.’ – ‘I remind you, Mr. Prosecutor,’ – emphasized the deputy, – ‘that I am fully responsible for what I declared; therefore I beg you, do not make any comment on my statements.
He said that and walked out with complete disdain from that hall, where the dregs of the city had gathered, cheering in that infamous trial. The prosecutor was left like a wounded beast. With this gesture, the Professor had unmasked the false democracy. The brave deputy of Dukagjin came out into the open and exposed the systematic war being waged against intellectuals by a brutal band that had usurped power.” This bombshell statement was a bell that heralded the fatal end of Kolë Prela, as a politician and free citizen.
KOL PRELA IS ARRESTED WITH THE PEOPLE’S MANDATE IN HIS POCKET
Kol Prela was arrested on September 14, 1946, with this indictment: “Has worked for the formation of a terrorist organization in Shkodra, connected to the Central Committee and the terrorist organization of Tirana. Among the defendants, Kolë Prela has been an effective member of the Central Committee of the Christian Democratic Party and a collaborator of the terrorist organization. Kolë Prela left his duty as Professor during the time of political occupation and stayed in areas under the influence of the Christian Democratic Party, and for political opportunism, he sometimes cooperated with elements of the [National Liberation] Movement, but was more connected with elements of the Christian Democratic Party or Legality.
The defendant Kolë Prela consults with Father Gjon Shllaku and other clerics on whether he should accept the candidacy placed by the Front in his name. And finally, he decided to accept and, as contraband, without the people knowing his reactionary work, he is elected people’s representative in the People’s Assembly, work that was in the interest of the reaction, especially of the Christian Democratic Party, where the defendant Kolë Prela was a Member of the Central Committee, as attested by the traitor Monsignor Volaj, and in this way the Christian Democrats in the People’s Assembly had their needed people.
After this time, the defendant Kolë Prela, together with the lawyer Paulin Pali and Father Gjon Shllaku, hold various meetings all three together, where they discuss how to organize and act against the power. Regarding other reactionary organizations. The defendant Kolë Prela, as a member of the Central Committee of the Christian Democratic Party, begins cooperation with other reactionary representatives in the People’s Assembly, his sabotages, initially by means of slogans and oppositions, and later, having their organization, in cooperation with other traitor representatives, such as; Riza Dani, Gjergj Kokoshi, etc.
During the time the defendant was a representative in the People’s Assembly; he frequently travels Tirana-Shkodra and always holds meetings and gatherings with reactionary elements. The defendants Kolë Prela and Paulin Pali knew well the organization of the “Albanian Union,” because they had been informed about it by Father Gjon Shllaku and had helped with their means, especially through propaganda.
When the organization “Albanian Union” was discovered and their treason came to light, the defendant Kolë Prela, with the aim of protecting the cadres of the reaction, and especially Father Gjon Shllaku, who was its main organizer, at the time he was being tried, appears as a defense witness, wanting to cover up his treason, even though the defendant Kolë Prela was a people’s representative. After the sentencing of the defendant Father Gjon Shllaku, the defendant Kolë Prela maintains regular contacts with Paulin Pali, with whom he cooperates very closely, as well as with other traitors.
The defendant instructs reactionary elements, such as; Gjelosh Luli from Shoshi, to work against the government, as well as his brother Mark, Pjeter Pali, Luigj Ljarja, who simultaneously had close ties with Father Gjon Shllaku, and some of them, following the instructions of the defendant Kolë Prela and Father Gjon Shllaku, also maintained contacts with the fugitives, giving them all necessary information.
The traitor Luigj Ljarja told the defendant Kolë Prela that in Pukë there exists a clandestine organization, and regarding this, the defendant, although he knew that this organization was directed against the government, as a people’s representative in the People’s Assembly, took no measure to denounce it; on the contrary, he gave instructions on how they should work more, that the situation would change, that the Anglo-Americans would land, with whom he had connections, and they hoped for their landing, as per the promises they had given them.
The defendants, the traitor Luigj Ljarja also told him about the connection that had been created around the organization in Tirana, through Anton Dukagjini and the escaped criminals, that Luigji himself was their courier. He was in favor of the intervention of imperialist foreign states. Directives from the Central Committee of Tirana were given by Abdyl Kokoshi.”
After reading the indictment, which considered all the aforementioned defendants guilty, the president of the trial panel, First Captain Misto Bllaci, gives the final decision. The members of the trial panel have only affixed their signatures, not their names.
THE ACCUSATIONS: KOLË PRELA DEFENDS IN COURT THE THESIS OF AN OPPOSITION PARTY
The defendant Kolë Prela was asked and said: “In the indictment, some words are true. During the time of the fascist occupation, I was in Italy for one year, and in 1940, I returned to Shkodra, where I was appointed professor and stayed until 1943, then I went into hiding in Dukagjin, because I had participated in the formation of the National Liberation Council of Shkodra.
My aim was to fight fascism, and the comrades of the Council told me to go there, to work, and I got in touch with Zija Dibra and Arif Gjyli, etc. I had contact with various people, especially Mark Mala wrote to me to withdraw from the National Liberation Movement, but I wrote to him to also join us.
He wrote to me that the ‘Bloc’ would split….! I liked a Democracy with multiple parties, and this kind of democracy existed in France and England. I have spoken more about England and America, with the aim of bringing them closer to the people. I also had meetings with chieftains, in favor of the National Liberation movement, where Mark Ndoja, my comrade, was also present. I returned from Elbasan in November 1945. My brother told me he had spoken with Father Gjon Shllaku about a group to participate in the elections, without giving it a name.
I met Father Gjon in 1940 and I don’t know him to have worked for fascism. I liked the Liberation of Albania and was responsible for the Economic Section for 2 months, then Director of the ‘Normal School’ of Elbasan, where I stayed for 8 months, and then I was transferred as a Professor at the Lyceum of Shkodra, until I was arrested. The last meeting with Father Gjon Shllaku was after the elections of December 2, 1945, when we were together with Paulin Pali, but this meeting was coincidental and we did not discuss the Organization here; he only said that according to radio news, the situation might break down in the summer and there might be changes, but I told him he was talking in vain, convinced that I didn’t give it any importance.
I have not discussed with other people, nor have we opened such conversations. I considered Father Gjon a personal friend and went to get a book from him, not invited by him. After this meeting, on January 9, 1946, I went to Tirana for the Assembly. I learned about the organization ‘National Union’ from the newspaper ‘Bashkimi’ (Unity) in Tirana, and the news broke that Father Gjon Shllaku was also arrested, but I was not in that organization. When the trial was held in Shkodra against the organization, Father Franua and Father Filipi and Aleks Baqali came to meet me, and I gave them a statement to present in court in favor of Father Gjon.
When I had a meeting with Paulin Pali, I told him that poor Father Gjoni was sentenced, and he told me: Don’t talk to me about the trial, as it seemed he felt pain for him too, but I felt pain because he was my friend. I know Gjelosh Lushi, he is from Shoshi; after liberation we met twice, once in September 1945, once in April 1946. He came to my house and asked about the newspaper, and I read him Kokoshi’s speech in the newspaper ‘Bashkimi’ and told him it would not be bad if another party was formed.
In April he told me: from what I’ve seen, they will arrest you, but you’d better go into hiding. I told Gjeloshi that; I haven’t done anything, then he asked me about the international situation, and I told him: The situation is cloudy and confused, but there will be no war, but the world may split into two blocs. Regarding what Gjeloshi told me about the arrest issue, I did not seek explanations, because he told me as a friend, to be careful because they would arrest me…! I have not charged him with work in Dukagjin.
-I have not been a member of the Christian Democratic Party, nor have I ever gone to the Archbishopric. I know nothing about the connections with Tirana, nor about September 9th. I know nothing about the Anglo-Americans, nor do I know any person. Certainly, I have desired a multi-party system. I joined the Front to fight the foreign occupier together, while after liberation, I aimed and fought to create a multi-party parliamentary system, with left and right parties, where every person would have the right to vote for the party they wanted. From the moment this promise, which was made to us during the War, was denied, I went into opposition and fought to create the new Albanian position.”
THE COURT’S PROSECUTION SPEECH
“Kolë Prela, carcass, prostitute, who stayed in the People’s Assembly”!
“The defendant Kolë Prela, although seemingly connected with the National Liberation Movement, in reality has been a collaborator of the Christian Democratic Party, and from the first days of liberation, began negotiations with people of the Christian Democratic Party and especially with the traitor Father Gjon Shllaku and exponents such as Riza Dani, people of the Catholic Clergy, Paulin Pali, and other filth of the City of Shkodra…!
“The defendant, Kolë Prela, although the people gave him their trust and vote as a representative in the People’s Assembly, this vile traitor, this filthy carcass, did not appreciate the people’s trust and instead of thinking about the people, takes the pickaxe in hand to erode the foundations of the homeland, becoming hand in glove with the fascist association Christian Democratic Party. Kolë Prela, carried out double-sided propaganda, with two chairs, a political prostitute who stayed in the People’s Assembly for show, on the other hand, encouraged the Christian Democrats, Paulin Pali, Kel Çoba, and others, to act against the government, to overthrow the government”!
THE VERDICT:
For all his treacherous activity, which was proven during the trial, based on articles…..? Of law no. 372 / The defendant Kolë Prela, is sentenced to DEATH and permanent loss of civil and political rights.
An still unsolved mystery, where did Kolë Prela’s body end up after the execution?!
They did not execute Kolë Prela by firing squad in Zalli i Kirit, in that “hell” where the damned souls of the anti-communist “devils” ended up. For reasons of conspiracy, because the professor was a man of politics (deputy) and a former Front fighter, it is said they executed him somewhere far away in the Buna Plain, tied hand in hand with his friend, the well-known lawyer Paulin Pali. On April 13, 1948, he was executed by firing squad in that gloomy, flowerless early spring. For a full two and a half months, our apostle of parliamentarism experienced the terrible anxiety of biblical proportions, counting the minutes, hours, and dawns until he would face the bullet.
The world’s greatest psychologists, studying the anxiety of people awaiting execution, have concluded that; waiting is more terrible than the execution itself. It is not known what their last wish was…! It is known that the volley of the execution squad discharged all the bullets from the magazines of the death-dealing machine upon them, stifling the words on their lips. The martyrs fell to the ground, once again softening with their youthful blood that land, which has been soaked and nourished with blood over the years. After the execution, the bodies of the victims were left lying on top of each other all day, as if they were sacks of garbage.
The subtext was clear: “Look how the enemies of the people end up! O people, vent your rage on your enemies”! Towards evening, gathered as they were, they were hooked with poles and thrown like carrion into a common pit. Perhaps Professor Kolë Prela was more “fortunate,” as he was a very public figure; he was buried with care, leaving no trace or grave marker. It is not known where Kolë Prela’s body ended up, in Buna, the Lake, or some pit or canal…?!
It is known that even to this day he is unburied (unmarked). Did this man not even deserve a grave in “free Albania,” to which he dedicated all his patriotism! Prof. Kolë Prela has his deserved place in the history of Albanian parliamentarism. Shkodra, in Professor Kolë Prela, had a true spokesman for its noble desires and aims, therefore it should feel proud to have had him as its son, as he was justice, truthfulness, sincerity, and self-sacrifice. Professor Kolë Prela remains alive even after physical death. His example and ideal continue to act for the benefit of education, democracy, and the homeland. Memorie.al
