By Dr. Qemal Lame
The fourth part
Memorie.al/The state of the dictatorship of the proletariat in the political system of the period of dictatorial socialism staged and propagated that it had “discovered” enemies, traitors, saboteurs, conspirators and coup plotters to strike and eliminate political opponents, as well as to artificially create situations that hid with the platform of class struggle to escalate state violence and divert attention from the serious problems of the political, economic and social crisis. In the “Synoptic Table”, which documents the plenum of the Central Committee of the ALP that condemned the “plot of the polyagent Mehmet Shehu” with key collaborators Kadri Hazbiu, Feçor Shehu, etc., Enver Hoxha himself said that: he has all the plots revealed Party and none of the State Security!
This statement is clearly understood by all that he was the person who had discovered and condemned the enemies of the people and the Party. His potential opponents who endangered absolute power were eliminated and condemned. Those whom he considered the most trustworthy who had been entrusted with the implementation of the orders for the elimination and disappearance of persons declared enemies were also eliminated. This method also hid the evidence, the main witnesses who could become dangerous to his idealized figure even after his death, and any case of investigations with the change of the political system, although it was thought to be eternal.
The tragedy of the violence of the dictatorial state is clearly documented in the secret agency activity of the State Security, the investigation, the prosecution and the court. in Berat. In this issue, we learn the serious consequences of the dictatorship for the punishment of innocent people by the criminal legends of the State Security, approved by the leadership of the ALP and imposed to be legislated by the investigation, the prosecution and the court.
– The trial of the group accused of “diversion, sabotage, agitation and propaganda, theft, illegal possession of weapons, etc.” at the Textile Factory in Berat.
Continued from the previous issue
Mine Guri received us very cordially, telling us:
-I have continuously informed the leadership about the trial before the people. Comrade Enver thanks you for the good judgment you have made. The filming of the trial will be valid as an important historical document and will have educational effects to materialize and understand the danger of hostile activity and the strength of the party and justice in our country …!
The trial was filmed to be used as a historical document for the purpose of documenting and educating the present and the future.
-The film “The trial of diversion in the Textile Factory”
The film “The Diversion Trial at the Textile Factory” was shot live during the two days without interruption of the court hearings, on January 6 and 7, 1978.
The director and cameramen worked in the studio for about two more months to finish it as a film, with the necessary direct footage and comments, according to the guidelines given directly by the Central Committee of the ALP. Eventually, filming was censored and left for about two and a half hours.
The director …, as it was discussed and decided before, demanded that before finishing the work, the prosecutor and the judge should go to complete the editing work. I, as the prosecutor of the case, was not notified in time.
According to the order given by Aranit Çela, Ali Zanko had gone alone and made many cuts of filming and text in my parts as a prosecutor.
Later, the director came to my office at the Attorney General’s Office and informed me of the cuts made. He told me that Ali had decided with the prosecution of Aran Çela, to shorten the parts with the role of the prosecutor and to make clearer the active role of the court, in the trials before the people.
When I met Ali in the Supreme Court, we talked about the movie. Ali told me:
-Qemal! Araniti called me and instructed me to cut the prosecutor’s part and leave more film parts for the court. The active role of the court is important for the judicial process, the implementation of procedural rules, the administration of justice and the education of the people. According to the order given from above, I went to Kinostudoi and gave concrete opinions to make the final cuts and adjustments …!
-Araniti should have talked to me too, I replied to Ali. He would have talked to Rrap as well, but they did not express their thoughts to me. I have respect for Aranit and Rrap. It is not appropriate for me to underestimate myself. We both have the primary responsibility for the conduct of the trial. The prosecutor and the trial panel have the same duty to conduct the trial according to the procedural rules, justice and legality of court decisions, educating citizens with legal norms and timely prevention of criminal offenses. The active role of unmasking the criminal offenses and the guilt of the defendants is a typical task of the prosecutor in the first place. The court cannot receive more rights than provided by the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Orientations for the greater role of the court in the judicial process, emphasizing the task of unmasking offenses and defendants, undermines the basic function of the court to conduct a fair, equitable, objective and comprehensive trial, both for guilt and also for the innocence of the defendants. The court is required to be independent in the administration of justice. With the active role of unmasking the crime and the defendants guilty, as Arianit Çela constantly demands, a serious violation of procedural rules occurs. The judge and the assistant judges who form the trial panel, concretely express their opinion on the guilt of the defendants, exposing them for the actions and omissions committed.
-The judge expresses his opinion as the person appointed to administer justice, expresses his inner conviction, analyzes the evidence and decides on the guilt or innocence of the defendants. This is a violation of the procedure and affects the sentencing with one-sided trials. The decision given in these conditions is considered illegal due to the prejudice of the guilt of the defendant. We have the same thoughts, Ali. I also understand your positions in the relationship you have with Arianit and me. This issue is very delicate and responsible for today and the future. We do not have the strength to influence to change practices that we think harm justice.
-We experienced direct intervention in the conduct of the trial, your role as a judge and mine as a prosecutor. I think that the attitudes I held during the trial should not have changed without my knowledge and approval. It is neither fair nor effective that the filming was edited without my knowledge. The film has its historical significance, but also our responsibility that we led this trial.
The film is valid and will remain as an important document for this time of the development of the class war, the role of the state and justice. It is imperative that the importance, role and fairness of the trial, the charges against the defendants, their sentences under the law, the concrete role and attitudes of the prosecutor, the presiding judge, the other two members of the trial panel be properly understood at all times., the secretary, the position of the defendants, witnesses, discussions made by the people, etc., etc.
The film about the trial of the sabotage and diversion group at the Textile Factory in Berat, was deposited in the film archive at Kinostudion Shqipëria e Re.
A copy was given to the Archive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and a copy was put into use by the Museum of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The film was often shown to museum visitors, especially on public holidays with political content and visits organized by work centers and employees of Tirana and other districts of the country.
It is also of interest to find audiovisual recordings and State Security reports on the trial and public reactions.
The Forensic Laboratory and the State Security have made the audiovisual recording of the entire trial. The recording was completed by filmmakers and cameramen in more than 20 hours.
The film has appeared even after the change of the political system and the establishment of democracy. Several parts of the film have been broadcast on various television programs to testify to the political trials of the communist dictatorship.
The trial of the “diversionist and saboteur group” in Berat is evidence of political manipulation and responsibility for crimes during the communist dictatorship
The bloodshed of this “hostile group” and its documentation in the live film were propagated as a great success in detecting and cracking down on hostile activity and as evidence of the implementation of the Party’s policy, the teachings of Enver Hoxha and the force. of the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat.
The judgment of this hostile group must be re-evaluated in the light of truth, political and legal opinion in the conditions of the rule of law, the identification of the serious consequences caused during the communist dictatorship, as well as the responsibility of the employees. of justice of that time.
Deep, comprehensive and objective analysis, avoidance of subjectivism, admission of mistakes, self-critical attitude and courage to publish the truth help to give opinions with a multi-dimensional range for this political process which is also one of the serious consequences of dictatorship. .
Assessed with this political, legal and civic responsibility, it is important to note that the trial of the hostile group of diversion and sabotage in Berat is a documented evidence of harsh criminal policy and manipulation of agency, investigative and judicial processes for the political interests of the leadership of that time to divert attention from political failures, the deep economic and financial crisis, the low level of welfare of the people, staging sensational processes to cover the real situation and keep under political tension and shut the mouth of the people who are was gradually distancing himself from the leader and political system of the dictatorship, demonstrating the threat of prosecution and severe sentencing measures against anyone who would dare to say even one word against the official policy of the idealized leader.
The trial of this hostile group is a well-documented proof of how the main leadership of the Labor Party acted at the time when relations with communist China were severed, economic, financial and military aid was cut off. The country began to enter the deep economic and financial crisis, which testified to the serious consequences of the policy of building dictatorial socialism according to the ideas and practice of the authoritarian power of Enver Hoxha. The fall of the myth of his cult, influenced the acceleration of the fall of the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the socialist system.
The responsibility remains heavy even after a long time, more than 43 years!
Without being acquainted with the file documents and without having the necessary professional knowledge, one cannot be fully convinced of the importance of the case, the objectivity and the fairness of the trial of the sabotage and diversion group in Berat.
By responsibly analyzing this process, based on the data of that time and those discovered later, it is concluded that the process has been manipulated. The investigation and trial have been flawed, serious breaches of legality and decisions have been imposed from above.
In order to assess objectively the political importance of this trial, it is necessary to know concretely the evidence and data administered by the investigation and the court, the legal formulation and content of the charges against the defendants, the circumstances and the purpose of the open trial. , explanations of the defendants, admission of the accusations without any objection, very severe sentences up to death of two of the defendants, etc.
Manipulation of the process of agency prosecution, investigation and accusations and guilt of the defendants formulated in the indictment of the investigation, understood from the analysis of data and comparison with evidence, unreserved explanations of the defendants, the suggestion made to the defendants to admit accusations and explanations according to agency legends etc.
In this process, the danger of the State Security and the investigation under the Ministry of Internal Affairs is proved once again. The data of the operational file, faithfully reflected in the investigative file, show the negative consequences of unfair relations and violations of agency norms and laws, through the secret activity of the State Security, as well as the role of the head of the Branch of State Affairs. Interior, of the Chief of Investigation, as well as of the investigator, for the prosecution, detection, arrest and punishment of persons who were considered diversionists, saboteurs and traitors.
The severe death penalty measures, without any concrete effective consequences in damaging and destroying the socialist state property, as sabotage and diversion had not taken place effectively, did not fit in with the social danger of the criminal offenses and their perpetrators.
The death sentences have been biased and on the direct orders of the leadership. The prosecutor and the judge received these orders through the Attorney General and the President of the High Court.
In assessing the role of the prosecutor and the judge who presided over the trial, without underestimating the responsibility for the duties of justice in the conditions of the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat, it is reasonable to consider the personal position and the way they acted. the principles of the Constitution, the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure, relations maintained with the bodies of internal affairs, communication and professional and civic ethics.
Without underestimating the overall responsibility as a justice worker during the dictatorship, the role and personal responsibility in the exercise of the functions of law enforcement people, investigators, prosecutors, judges and all justice workers, in the conditions of dictatorship under socialism is determined by the personal attitudes of the prosecutor and the judge, the materialized meaning with the reactions and concrete decisions and the legal conscience in the work for the implementation and protection with rigor and justice of the laws.
The severe punishments applied in this criminal case are based on the articles of the Criminal Code, for diversion, sabotage, agitation and propaganda, theft of explosives, etc.
The Criminal Code of the RPSSH provided in twelve articles the death penalty. With such a number of articles, it was one of the harshest codes in existence at the time in the world. The official policy declared in the Congresses of the Labor Party of Albania, as was explicitly stated in the 8th Congress, emphasized that the Constitution and our laws serve the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat for the protection of the Party and the power of the working class. The Criminal Code of the RPSSH is not the code of the bourgeoisie or the kulak, but the code of the working class.
I have consistently had the idea that the death penalty be abolished by the Criminal Code. I witnessed this in the Constitutional Reform, in 1990. In the high state reform commission where I held an active position, it was finally accepted the reduction of the number of articles with the death penalty and the abolition of Article 55, agitation and propaganda against dewletê./Memorie.al
