By Dashnor Kaloçi
Part twelve
Memorie.al / It was the morning of September 1, 1976, when the workers of the Fishing Enterprise who were the first to arrive at their workplace located on the shore of Lake Shkodra near the village of Shiroka, found that the guard of the enterprise of that sector was surprisingly missing, as well as the office staff, something that had never happened before?! This is because, among other things, there was also the pier where all the fishing boats were anchored, which, tied with chains and locked with a key, were considered objects of special importance and were under the control and double guard, both by the fishing enterprise and by the Border Post located in the village of Zogaj, where the state border with Montenegro, at that time part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia of Marshal Tito, was also located.
Although a torrential and stormy rain continued to fall, which had started since midnight, the fishermen began to look for the guard and the foreman of their company, calling them by name, but in vain, because no one answered? But after a while, they were stunned and terrified, when just a few meters away from the fish warehouse, they saw a corpse lying on the ground with no signs of life…! It was the 50-year-old guard, Fadil Rizaj, who had been serving in that position for several years. No one dared to touch him with their hands, because not only was he bloody and with visible marks on his head and body, but his hands were tied with rope from behind his body and also his respiratory organs, tied with a cloth behind his head…! Which clearly meant that he had been killed…?
After that scene of horror, some of the fishermen ran to the offices to call the heads of their company and the Internal Affairs Branch as well, but the telephone line was cut and the connection to Shkodra could not be established…! Meanwhile, from other checks to find the company’s wreck, it was also found that one of the boats (fishing boats) was missing from the pier on the lake shore, precisely the one known as; “Health Boat”, and the safe that held their keys, was broken with a crowbar!
Meanwhile, the alarm was given and there were some of the officers and main chiefs of the Shkodra Internal Affairs Branch, who immediately determined that not only were they dealing with a serious crime, but also with an escape by boat across the lake, which, among other things, would also aggravate their position before their superiors at the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Tirana. Meanwhile, the news spread and the investigative group with the relevant experts immediately began work to uncover the crime that had occurred and unravel the entire event, which a few days later would shock not only the city and district of Shkodra, but also Tivar, Titograd and Ulcinj in Montenegro!
But what had really happened, who and why had killed the fishing guard Fadil Rizaja? How many people had escaped and what had happened at midnight on August 31, as September 1, 1976 dawned, as a heavy rain fell with thunder and lightning, which was said to have never been remembered, even by the oldest residents of those parts? Why were several dead bodies found on the shore of the lake on the Yugoslav side and another corpse on our side of the border, near the border post in the village of Zogaj? How was the main author of that escape able to swim to the part of the lake that belonged to the border of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, on that dark night with rain, waves and storm?
Who was Hamit Arif Myrto and what did he initially say to the residents of that area, when they saw him completely naked in the alleys of their village, as well as to the competent Yugoslav authorities, regarding the reasons for his escape? What did the UDB authorities ask Hamit during the investigation process in several separate offices in Tivar, Titograd and Ulcinj, where they sent him, frequently changing his location, his “cellmates” and the investigators who interrogated him? What did he testify to when they asked him about the military bases and units, the missile unit and other installations that were located at that time in the Shkodra district, as well as the tracts that were dropped in that city those days, against the Party of Labor and Enver Hoxha?
What did Hamit tell the UDB bodies, regarding his brother-in-law, a minister in the government headed by Mehmet Shehu, and also one of the closest people to the dictator Enver Hoxha, who remained in that position until the collapse of the communist regime? Who was the “photographer” from Shkodra who had escaped to Yugoslavia a few years ago and why were all the investigators asking Hamit about that person? Why did the Yugoslav UDB authorities decide to return Hamit Myrto to Albania, handing him over to the Albanian State Security bodies, even though they were convinced that he had not been sent on a secret mission?
What did Hamit testify during the investigative process, such as the reasons that had forced him to undertake that dangerous adventure, and also everything he had told the UDB? What did Hamit write in the letter addressed to Enver Hoxha to the Minister of Defense Beqir Balluku and how was it possible to find that letter in his house in Shkodra? What did Hamit’s family members, relatives, neighbors, work colleagues, the brigadier, the director of the Fishing Enterprise, the chairman of the People’s Council of the “Partizani” Neighborhood where he lived, and other people who were called to testify against him, testify during the investigation process, in the fall of 1976?
Why was the trial of Hamit Myrtos held in the village of Shiroka, how much was he convicted by the Shkodra District Court, the Criminal College of the Supreme Court and why did the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, leave their decisions in force, for his death sentence (by hanging) even after that terrible tragedy that had happened to him; where he lost his entire family? What were Hamit’s last words before the firing squad and why, to this day, has his grave not yet been found?!
Regarding these and other of the most serious and tragic events that the Shkodra region and Montenegro experienced in those years, we are informed by the archival documents of the voluminous relevant file that Memorie.al has provided, which we are publishing in several issues (with the relevant facsimiles and photos), with the sole purpose of shedding light and making known the monstrous crimes that occurred at that time, where Albanians, in order to escape the communist hell, were forced to undertake the most dangerous adventures towards the state border, just like the main character of this event, Hamit Arif Myrtja!
Continued from the previous issue
THE INDICTMENT OF THE INVESTIGATOR OF THE INTERNAL BRANCH OF SHKODRA, JAKE TEFIKU, SENT TO THE DISTRICT PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE FOR THE TRIAL TO BE HELD AGAINST THE DEFENDANT HAMIT ARIF MYRTJA
APPROVED Investigation file 344
PROSECUTOR
Faik Minarolli
ACT – ACCUSATION
Against the defendant
HAMIT ARIF MYRTAJ
MINUTES
(Of questioning the witness)
Both agree and decide to tell the guard that; “they were in Oblikë at their uncle’s and that they were delayed there, Hasija is tired and could not take them home, but she will stay here and the second day we will go to a place because Hasija has a relative of hers who has died”. When they arrived at the Peshkim administration building, the brave guard, Riza Rrezia was on duty, guarding the property. Ay stopped him and when he learned that it was the guard’s employee Hamit Myrtja, about whom he had previously learned from the guard who had delivered him, he allowed him and the defendant Hamit, went inside together with his wife and children. The presence of Hasija Myrtja and her minor children late at night caught his attention and made the guard Fadil suspicious. However, the foxiness of the defendant Hamit, for a few moments removed this veil of suspicion.
The poisonous spider showed no sign of concern for the plan he was about to carry out, standing like an executioner at the ready, with the means of death in hand over the brave guard. The monster Hamit Myrtja informed the guard Fadil that he had supposedly been to his uncle’s house in Oblikë, that he was tired, and was a little late, that a close person to his wife had died and that the next morning they would go with him to the funeral. Believing the words of the defendant Hamit, the guard Fadil Rrezia, with the honesty and behavior that characterized him, advised the defendant Hamit to take his wife and children home, to make them comfortable and then return to duty.
At this moment, the traitor Hasije Myrtja, in accordance with the order of the defendant Hamit, and in order to convince the guard Fadil, approaches him and says: Today I will stay here with the children, because I am tired, I cannot go home, the children want to sleep, so arrange for me to sleep in the corridor of the administration offices. In this case, the defendant Hamit, without waiting for the approval of the guard Fadil, takes the guard’s mattress and goes up to the corridor of the administration offices. There he places his wife and children to disguise them, under the pretext that they will sleep. After arranging and masking them, he approached guard Fadil, indirectly provoked his thoughts and when he saw that guard Fadil did not favor his expressions, he immediately withdrew and right there, in order to eliminate any momentary suspicion that he might have left the guard, he proposed to the latter that they go deeper into the facility, supposedly to check, which the defendant Hamit did, in order to carry out the murder of guard Fadil without much difficulty.
So the guard Fadil is taken from where they were and the two go where the defendant Hamit dictated. When they arrive there, the defendant Hamit, suddenly and treacherously, hits the guard Fadil on the head, knocks him to the ground, and ties him up in the respiratory organs and by the hands. To better ensure that the victim Fadil remains alive, he hits him with a cutting tool several times, causing wounds, bleeding, from which he dies instantly. In accordance with the criminal plan, the defendant Hamit Myrtja takes the rifle and puts it in firing readiness, and immediately goes to the workshop to see if the engines for the boat (sule) he would be traveling on were ready. When he saw that the engines were not installed, he quickly leaves and goes to the place where the lighting equipment of the company’s environment was turned off, removes the fuses, so that the lights would not be put into operation quickly, cuts the telephone line with the pliers he had with him, breaks the safe where the boat keys were kept, takes some of these there and goes to where he had left his wife and children, takes them and quickly goes down to the pier.
There he tries to open the locks of the boats, but initially he cannot. In order not to waste time, with the help of pliers, he forcibly cuts the cable of a boat, takes two or three pieces of oars and quickly sets off and goes out into the lake at around 24.00. Thinking and rubbing his hands that up to these moments he had not encountered a single thorn on his foot and realized the plan as he had foreseen, he sets off across the lake full of joy and satisfaction. When he arrives at the waters of the village of Shiroka, the rain and storm begin, the Defendant Hamit, continues his journey, confident in his physical strength, that neither the dark night nor the rain, nor the storm would hinder him in his mission of betrayal. When approaching the waters of the Zogaj village region, the weather conditions kept getting worse, the rain and storm continued their work, the risk of certain death threatened him, however, the defendant Hamit, out of the great hatred he had for the homeland, the Party and our People’s government, did not show the slightest care for his offspring, and to save their lives, he with that repressed criminal conscience, just to save his own skin, preferred to sacrifice his three minor children, as it actually happened, rather than neither sending them down nor leaving them in their native land.
So who is the personality of this parent who thought of creating material goods for his children and making them happy outside the homeland? Without completely crossing our waters, the boat with the three children and the wife sank, while the defendant Hamit himself, came ashore and crossed into the darkness of the night to the Titoist Yugoslavia, which he had dreamed of for a long time, with the cold-bloodedness of a sadist. His deed is very heinous, but it did not end there, but continued. As soon as he arrived at the UDB organs, he served them with everything that interested the Yugoslavs, voluntarily handing over information ranging from his escape plan to information of a political, economic and military nature, convinced that by seriously harming the interests of the Party and the homeland, with the information he handed over, the Yugoslavs would reserve special moral and material support for him.
In this way and under these circumstances, the defendant Hamit Myrtja, fully committed the crime of hostile propaganda, terror and treason against the homeland in the form of escape, as provided for in Articles 73/1, 76 and 64 of the Criminal Code.
The charges against the defendant Hamit Myrtja, have been fully proven by the numerous evidence contained in the criminal file. The criminal acts committed by the defendant Hamit Myrtja, are socially dangerous, because they have as their object the independence of the People’s Republic of Albania and its external security. Finding the charges proven and based on the law, we present for trial the defendant:
Hamit Arif Myrtja, born in 1944, son of Arif and Lytfija, born in the village of Shiroka and resident of the “Partizani” neighborhood of the city of Shkodra, originally a poor peasant with primary education, married, non-party member, unconvicted, undecorated, arrested on October 7, 1976.
It is accused of:
He has committed the act of terror of treason against the homeland, in the form of fleeing abroad, has made hostile propaganda, to undermine and weaken the popular power, and its defensive power. Criminal acts are foreseen as crimes by articles 67; 64; and 73/1 of the Criminal Code. The indictment together with the investigative file no. 344 in charge of the defendant Hamit Arif Myrtja, in accordance with article 204 of the Criminal Code, shall be forwarded to the prosecutor of the Shkodra district.
This indictment was drawn up today, on October 31, 1976, in the city of Shkodra, by me:
INVESTIGATOR
Jake Tefiku
Today, November 3, 1976, I received a copy of the indictment.
The defendant
Hamit Myrtja
DECISION OF THE SHKODRA COURT PRESIDED BY JUDGE MUÇI AND PROSECUTOR REMZI KRUJA, ON THE SENTENCE OF HAMIT ARFIF MYRTJA TO DEATH, HANGING ON A ROPE
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA
SHKODRA DISTRICT COURT
REG. THEM. 404
DECISION NO. 401
DECISION
IN THE NAME OF THE PEOPLE
The Shkodra District Court, composed of
Shefqet Muçi, chairman
Zenel Brahimi member
Hyrije Kraja member
With Secretary Myzejen Dymylja and Prosecutor Remzi Kruja, examined in an open court session in Shiroka, the criminal case concerning the defendant:
Hamit Myrtja, son of Arif and Lutfija, born in 1944, born in the village of Shiroka and resident in Shkodra, of poor peasant origin and in working conditions, with primary education, non-party, undecorated, not previously convicted, arrested on October 7, 1976. He is accused of having committed an act of terrorism, having betrayed the homeland in the form of escape, and having agitated and propagated against the People’s Power, these crimes provided for by articles 64, 67, and 73/1, of the Criminal Code.
The Court, after completing the judicial investigation and after hearing the Prosecutor who requested the declaration of the defendant guilty according to the charges and to sentence him: based on Article 64 to death by hanging, with confiscation of property and with deprivation of the right to vote for a period of 5 years. Based on Article 67, to death, with hanging, with confiscation of property and with deprivation of the right to vote for a period of 5 years. By joining the sentences based on Article 48 of the Criminal Code, it sentences him to death by hanging, confiscation of property, and deprivation of the right to vote for a period of 5 years, after hearing the last word of the defendant’s defense in which he asked for mercy.
NOTES
The charges against the defendant Hamit Myrtja for treason against the homeland, for the act of murdering the guard of the enterprise, and for Agitation and Propaganda against the people’s power, these crimes provided for by articles 64, 67, and 73/1, of the Criminal Code, were fully proven. The criminal acts were developed and committed in the following circumstances:
Hamit Myrtja, worked at the Shkodra Fishing Enterprise, and on the surface he appeared disciplined and self-sacrificing. While in himself he hid and preserved hostile thoughts towards the party and the people’s power. Narrow-minded, selfish, ambitious, he quarreled with his mother, brother, and sisters, over property problems and for years, he held a grudge against them. The difficulties of the competent authorities to immediately expand with housing, and the failure to find a qualified job for his wife, he considered as ill-treatment that was done to him by the authorities.
Poisoned with bourgeois and revisionist propaganda and inclined to narrow personal interest, he openly opposed the latest revolutionary measures of our Party and Government regarding the reduction of high salaries, and their review in various sectors of the economy, because in this case his salary was also affected. While the workers of our entire country welcomed these deeply revolutionary decisions and were preparing to go with their hands full to the Red November celebrations of the Party, the defendant Hamit and his wife Nasije Myrtja, were weaving in cooperation with each other, the plan of escape to Tito’s Yugoslavia as a family.
To carry out their criminal intent, they chose the night of August 31, 1976, as well as the crossing point of Lake Shkodra, which the defendant knew well from fishing. After securing the tools they would need on the way, such as pliers, pliers, keys, twine, net, sail, etc., they set off with their three minor children towards the fishing enterprise where the defendant had been assigned to perform the duty of guard that night at his request. Before leaving the defendant Hamit’s house, he wrote a letter with counter-revolutionary content, which he left there with a note to be given to the Party leadership.
In it, he wrote with hatred and cynicism against socialist Albania, that supposedly the people suffer, there is unemployment, the life of the poor is miserable, a cruel life, that supposedly the conspirators Beqir Balluku, Petrit Dume, Hito Çako, and Rrahman Pëllaku, had tried for the good of the people and a series of other slanders with the aim of obscuring our gigantic advances in all areas of life. Around 23:00 they arrived near the Fishing Enterprise. Both of them, according to the agreement they had made, deceived the guard of the facility, and of the pier, that they had supposedly been to a friend of theirs in Oblikë, and that their children would sleep at the enterprise since they were tired. Memorie.al
