By Dashnor Kaloçi
Part thirteen
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
DECISION OF THE COURT OF SHKODRA, 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
Shkodra District Court, composed of
Shefqet Muçi President
Zenel Brahimi Member
Hyrije Kraja Member
With Secretary Myzejen Dymylja and Prosecutor Remzi Kruja, he 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, without a party, without decorations, without previous convictions, arrested on October 7, 1976. He is accused of having committed an act of terror, 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.
While his wife Hasije was taking care of the children, the defendant provoked the guard Fadil Brezia with indirect conversations to allow him to escape with his family. Encountering the guard’s resistance, the defendant Hamit suddenly hit him in the head and back with a hard, sharp object, took his rifle, tied his hands and mouth, and left him near the facility. From these actions of a bandit, the guard died instantly. The commission of this ugly medieval crime, the murder of his workmate, created the real opportunity for him to hijack one of the pier’s boats and escape abroad.
After that, with the coolness and courage of a professional criminal, he severed the telephone and electrical lines with pliers, and then the cable of the health boat 004, boarded his children and wife, and quickly went out into the lake at around 24.00, rowing with oars towards the border. He was sailing a few hundred meters from the shore of the lake, oriented by the lights of the villages. When he arrived at the waters near Shiroka, the weather began to deteriorate and it began to rain heavily. However, he continued to consume the criminal act of treason against the homeland to the end.
Near the village of Zogaj, around the water line of the border as a result of a storm, the boat capsized, the woman and three children drowned, while the defendant was able to cross the border in the village of Cklla and surrendered to the Yugoslav authorities of the municipality of Tivar. According to his statements, he gave the UDB bodies all the information of a political, military, and economic nature that they requested, in order to ensure the moral, material, and political support of the Yugoslav revisionists, and to damage the interests of our state.
On 7.10.1976, the Yugoslav authorities handed over the defendant to our bodies. In this way, the defendant Hamit Myrtja has fully committed the crime of treason against the homeland, for the act of murdering the company guard, Fadil Brezia, and for Agitation and Propaganda against the people’s government, which is foreseen in the relevant provisions mentioned above. The charges are proven by his statement, by the report dated 7.10.1976, of his taking over by the Yugoslavs, by the body of the guard Fadil Brezia, by the body of the defendant’s drowned daughter, found in Zogaj, by the report of the inspection of the scene where the telephone and electric cables were found cut, as well as a series of other material evidence, the boat 004 that the Yugoslavs handed over, by letters with hostile content, by the statements of witnesses questioned in the court session, various photographs and other materials attached to the file.
The defendant’s actions are aimed at weakening the Marxist-Leninist line of the Party of Labor of Albania. At weakening the defensive power of our country and ultimately at overthrowing the dictatorship of the proletariat in our country and restoring capitalism in us. After these, the court takes into account the cynicism, the type of crime, the great determination and the special cruelty of the “madman” as he himself mentioned who has shown the realization of the criminal act, by stabbing his work colleague in the back, and by sacrificing the lives of his children, it takes into account his bad behavior in society and family, that during the trial he did not show remorse for the ugly acts, and finally it takes into account the unanimous request of the fishing workers and the people participating in the trial, to apply the capital punishment to this bandit, by hanging.
In these circumstances, the court considers that his being alive is not useful for the socialist society, but rather becomes harmful to it.
Therefore
The Court, pursuant to Article 278 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,
DECIDES:
To declare the defendant Hamit Myrtja guilty based on Article 64 of the Criminal Code, to death by hanging, with confiscation of property and deprivation of the right to vote for a period of 5 years.
To declare the defendant Hamit Myrtja guilty based on Article 67 of the Criminal Code, to death by hanging, with confiscation of property and deprivation of the right to vote for a period of 5 years.
To declare the defendant Hamit Myrtja guilty based on Article 73/1 of the Criminal Code, to 10 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property and deprivation of the right to vote for a period of 5 years.
By combining the sentences based on Article 48 of the Criminal Code, he is sentenced to death by hanging, confiscation of property, and deprivation of the right to vote for a period of 5 years.
The court costs are charged to the defendant.
An appeal and protest may be filed against this decision within 5 days at the Supreme Court.
Shiroka on 18.11.1976
Secretary The President
(Myzejen Dymylja) (Shefqet Muci)
DOCUMENT WITH THE DECISION OF THE CRIMINAL PANEL OF THE HIGH COURT PRESIDED BY LUMTURI RESNJA, LIRI GJOLIKU AND SOFOKLI KRONGO, ON THE DEATH SENTENCE OF HAMI MYRTJA
REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA
HIGH COURT
CRIMINAL COLLEGE
No. 412 of the Them. Reg.
Decision No. 397
DECISION
IN THE NAME OF THE PEOPLE
The Judicial Council of the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court formed under the chairmanship of:
Lumturi Resnja, Member of the Supreme Court
Liri Gjoliku, Member
Sofokli Krongo, Member
In the open court session dated 4.12.1976, the court considered case no. 412 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.
Accused of having committed the crime of treason against the homeland, for the act of murdering the guard of the enterprise, and for Agitation and Propaganda against the people’s government, these crimes provided for by articles 64, 67, and 73/1, of the Criminal Code.
By decision no. 401 dated 18.11.1976, the Shkodra District Court declared the defendant guilty and, based on paragraph 1 of Article 73, sentenced him to 10 years of imprisonment, based on Article 64, death, hanging, confiscation of property and deprivation of the right to vote for a period of 5 years. Based on Article 67, death by hanging, confiscation of property and deprivation of the right to vote for a period of 5 years.
By combining 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. Since the sentence is death, due to the lack of appeal, the case is reviewed based on Article 302/2 of the CPC.
THE JUDICIAL COUNCIL OF THE CRIMINAL PANEL OF THE SUPREME COURT, after hearing the report of member Lumturi Resnja, the prosecutor who requested the decision to be upheld, and after examining the case in its entirety,
NOTES
The Court’s decision is correct. During the trial, it was established that the defendant Hamit Arif Myrtja committed the crimes of treason against the homeland, terrorism and agitation and propaganda against the People’s Government, as provided for in Articles 64, 67 and 71/1 of the Criminal Code.
The defendant worked as a worker at the Shkodra Fishing Enterprise. Fed up with the hostile, capitalist and revisionist propaganda on the way of life and being an element with pronounced character flaws, ambitious, selfish and quarrelsome, he, together with his wife, Hasije, decided to escape to Yugoslavia. So, after having previously drafted the escape plan and prepared the necessary means for this purpose, on August 31, 1976, together with the 3 minor children, they went down to the Fishing Enterprise, where the defendant, at his request that evening, was assigned to perform his service duty.
The defendant tried to deceive the guard of the mole facility and finally asked him to help him escape with his family. And when the guard resisted, he hit him 7-8 times with a hard and sharp tool, blows that, according to the forensic report, killed him.
After committing this hostile and terrorist act against the mole guard, the defendant Hamit Myrtja took a boat, in which he placed his wife and three children, and after getting on board himself, at around 24.00, he quickly went out onto the lake, rowing towards the border. During this time, a torrential rain began.
The defendant, being consistent in his hostile act, even because the lives of his children were in danger, did not stop, so as a result of bad weather, incessant rain and a storm, near the border line in the village of Zogaj, the boat capsized, his three children and his wife drowned, while the defendant was able to cross the border and surrendered to the Yugoslav authorities in the municipality of Tivar. He immediately put himself at their service, agreed to give them all the political, economic and military information they requested. However, on 7.10.1976, the Yugoslav authorities handed the defendant over to our bodies.
These facts are confirmed in the defendant’s full statements, with the acts of forensic evidence of the murder of the guard Fadil Rrezia, as well as other acts in the file. Under these conditions, the court’s decision regarding guilt, as well as the characterization of the acts committed by him, is correct. The court has correctly concluded that the defendant, in addition to the above, has also committed the crime of agitation and propaganda against the People’s Power. From the materials in the file, it results that before leaving his apartment to escape, the defendant Hamit left a letter, with a request that it be sent to the leadership of our Party.
In this letter, he expressed his hatred against the socialist system in Albania, the Party of Labor and its leader, and took the enemies of the Party and our people under his protection. This fact is also assessed in the letter written by him, which is in the materials in the file. In determining the measure of punishment, the court has taken into account the degree of extremely pronounced social danger of the act committed by the defendant, the degree of guilt, as well as his personality. As the district court rightly acknowledges in its decision, the defendant committed these acts with an unbridled hatred against the People’s Power, the Party and its people.
An element with a poorly educated character, a quarrelsome person with bad behavior in the family and society, ambitious and selfish who sought to extort from society more than it gave to it, closely related to his own self-interest, he was very quickly poisoned by bourgeois and revisionist propaganda, propaganda which transformed him into a new bourgeois and counter-revolutionary element.
Consistently on this path, even during the trial, the defendant did not show remorse for the acts committed. These circumstances, as well as the unanimous opinion of the working collective, rightly led the court to the conclusion regarding the measure of capital punishment given against him.
FOR THESE REASONS
The Judicial Council of the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court, in accordance with point 1. Of article 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,
DETERMINED
The decision No. 401, dated 18.11.1976, of the Shkodra District Court shall remain in force.
The decision shall not be executed until it has been reviewed by the Presidium of the People’s Assembly.
Tirana on 4.12.1976. Memorie.al
Member Member Head
L.Gjoliku S. Krongo L. Resnja
Continues next issue
