Dashnor Kaloçi
Memorie.al publishes an archival document from 1961 extracted from a voluminous file by the former Central Committee of the ALP, which contains various information from the Albanian embassies in some Eastern European countries which inform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tirana and the Committee Central of the ALP, regarding what was said and commented in the countries where they were accredited, for the trial against the “Conspirators” led by Teme Sejkon, which was taking place in Tirana. What is said in the report of the Counselor of the Albanian Embassy in Moscow, Gac Mazi, regarding the conversation he had with two foreign diplomats at the reception given by the Danish embassy and what they said to him, regarding the trial against Teme Sejko and the accusations made by them for Enver Hoxha and the senior leadership of the ALP…?!
In the last three parts of this article published by Memorie.al we got acquainted with the history of how and why the “Cham Conspiratorial Group” was staged, the development of the investigation process against Taho Sejko and also the conduct of the trial against the “Cham Conspiracy” led by, Rear Admiral of the Navy, Major General, Teme Sejkos. During the investigation process against the Cham group, which was accused of “links with the agencies of some western countries, in order to overthrow the popular power in Albania”, various tortures were used against the detainees who did not accept the charges. One of those arrested who was not broken by the pressure and torture inflicted on the Investigator was Taho Sejko, who along with his brother, Temen, were considered the head of the hostile group. Lieutenant Colonel Stavri Madhi, of the Tirana State Security Directorate, was initially appointed as Tahos investigator, but after failing to force him to sign the indictment, he was removed and replaced by appointed Ferhat Matohiti. But even Matohit could not dismantle Taho, who could not stand the torture, fell on the wall of the cell with his head, losing his memory forever. As a result, Taho was the only one who did not appear in the trial of the “Cham Conspirators” and in the report that Kadri Hazbiu sent to Enver Hoxha, he wrote that: “Taho’s failure to appear in court, jeopardized the submission of the investigation process in due time and would also weaken in some way the judicial process”. Shortly before the end of the investigation process, without any motivation, he was dismissed from the post of Deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa Qilimi, whom Rita Marko pressured to arrest, saying that he was a friend of Tahir Demi. The trial of the “Cham Conspirators” began on May 18, 1961 in the Cinema Hall of the Brigades and was led by the President of the Supreme Court, Shuaip Panariti and its members were: Major General Muharrem Kokomani, Colonel Bejto Isufi, Colonel Sotir Spiro and Hilmi Telegraph.
The falsity of that trial staged and staged by Kadri Hazbiu and the Soviets, was admitted by Enver Hoxha himself at the Plenum of the Central Committee of the ALP held on October 13, 1982 when he was hitting Kadri Hazbiu, where among other things he was says: “The case of Teme Sejko is full of mystery. In the synoptic picture of the agent activity of the enemy Mehmet Shehu, I said that I am not clear about the plot of Teme Sejko and what role Mehmet Shehu played in it. We were told that this was a plot organized by the Greek-American and Yugoslav agencies linked to the 6th American Fleet in the Mediterranean. When we spoke in the Fourth Congress about this conspiracy, the Soviets pretended to be alarmed, and even Gomulka proposed that they send us a commission from the Warsaw Pact, which we rejected. In the letter you sent me, Kadri, you hurried to explain to me the problem of Teme Sejko, trying to make provocations as well. This letter really clarified the problem for me, but not in the direction you wanted. Now I have clear what you are hiding. This plot of Teme Sejko was organized by the Soviets, by Mehmet Shehu, etc., that Kadri does not mention at all in this letter. After we were preparing the attack for the Meeting of the Communist Workers’ Party in Moscow, they threatened us, but seeing our determination they organized with their agency, Mehmet Shehu and company, the so-called conspiracy of Teme Sejko that our country would allegedly be attacked by 6th American Fleet with the support of the Greeks and Yugoslavs. In other words, the Soviets told us: “Do not make a joke to remove our military base from Pashaliman, because the attack is ready to destroy Albania and you need us.”
The above seems to have been just an excuse of Enver Hoxha, or rather a “hand washing”, since at that time he had available all the reports coming to him from the Soviet Union and other countries of the Communist East., who protested against that farcical trial that was taking place in Tirana. One of them is this document that Memorie.al is publishing from several issues following the history of the “Cham Conspiracy” headed by Teme Sejkon.
Continued from the previous issue
Letter from the Albanian diplomat from Moscow to the Central Committee
INFORMATION ON THE MEETING WITH THE FIRST ADVISERS OF THE ROMANIAN AND BULGARIAN EMBASSIES STAN AND MOMCEV ON THE OCCASION OF A RECEPTION AT THE DANISH EMBASSY ON 4.VI.1961
At this meeting they sought to be informed of where I had been for a time, according to them long, that they had not seen me. I knew about their interest beforehand, and I told them that I was here and with service.
The Romanian immediately started working and said: How is your trial in Tirana going? I started and explained. He said; I am aware, but this trial is fabricated by your Party. You pulled out a Kondradmiral there, and you want to make noise with it. The whole Camp is surprised when Enver Hoxha said in the Congress that the Yugoslavs, the Greeks and the VI Fleet wanted to fall to us. The Warsaw Pact states only heard about it from Congress, and put themselves in a bad position. This is completely unbelievable. So far, no facts have emerged about what Enver Hoxha stated.
After explaining to him once again with facts, the case of the trial, facts which are legally proven by the documents we have, I asked him a question. If you have read the court materials, have you noticed a certain Panajot Plaku?
He said, yes, but even for this it is slander, and the thread continued: Your party has waged a great campaign against the elements who wholeheartedly wanted the Soviet Union. So, you took out that girl, Belishova, with her husband, and so on.
After I told you that the measures of the Party have been, are and will be strict, against the enemies of Marxism-Leninism, I asked this question as well. Why did the leaders of some socialist states put them under their armpits, and protect so much the enemies of Marxism-Leninism, the revisionists, the traitors of our country?
Why are there so many interventions for such elements, which are known worldwide as enemies. What do you need these elements for? He could not answer this, he said: Look at your leadership that it is not okay. Now that it has its origins in Marxism-Leninism. There are only two employees in your Politburo, the intelligence has taken over.
After explaining how this leadership and personally Comrade Enver, since the difficult times when the Nazi hordes were at the gates of Moscow, created the Albanian Communist Party and led the people in the war and today in construction, I continued:
D.m.th. who asked you to eliminate our leadership and bring to power those under your leadership? D.m.th. enemies of the Party? This will never happen to us. You change yours as you have the method, but we have ours very well, and it is useless for any of the leaders of democracies to think of a change in us, because it will never be done.
He went on to say: “Your leadership has broken the friendship with the Soviet Union. Enver Hoxha spoke very badly about the Soviet Union at the Moscow Conference, as well as Beqir Balluku at the Warsaw meeting. You have behaved very badly with the specialists and the military in Albania, your leadership does not appreciate the help of the Soviet Union. If your people know this, they will change their leadership overnight.
For this I explained at length how the friendship of our people with the peoples of the Soviet Union is strengthened and strengthened, and who is the factor of this friendship and that despite all the pressures that are being put on us in all directions, our people know how to share good from evil.
After that I continued. When all our people under the leadership of the Party rose to their feet from the beginning, and fought unceasingly until liberation, when the communists and without the party fell on the field of honor in the name of the Bolshevik Party and Stalin, the Romanian and Bulgarian divisions fought in south of the Soviet Union along with the Germans against the Red Army.
Romanian divisions in Crimea have committed major crimes. History does not forget this. On the other hand, no bullet of any Albanian was directed by the people and the Soviet Army, but alongside the Soviets on different fronts in Albania and Yugoslavia, and those on other fronts we fought the same enemy, so you can no longer love him strongly that the Party and our people the Soviet Union and the Soviet people, with whom we shed common blood for the same purpose.
You love the Soviet Union in words, we love it with work and specifically that history will tell later, etc.
At this time the Romanian said: You are offending us, and this is serious, we other conditions we had during the War.
When facts are told to you, you are offended, but when you lie, slander, and interfere in the internal affairs of others, is it not an insult?!
As for what you said, that the people knew these issues, overthrows the leadership, do not worry. Our party and people know everything. The party has informed him, but always correctly as the facts are. Otherwise you and other communists and your people have been informed.
You have told the truth to the communists, you have mastered the facts. You are very concerned about our leadership and you are trying hard to change it, why all this interest?!
You say that the people know the same thing about the base and the technicians who misbehaved with them, and that you did not accept the Soviet Union’s proposals for the base, do the people know?
After I spoke to him about this, I asked him the following questions: According to you, of course the Party has informed you, how do you describe the removal of the technicians and the base?
The Bulgarian said: “You have good and educated sailors, they have ruined your equipment, so you should give all the equipment to the Soviet crews.”
Namely even the command, the Soviets?
Yes, of course, with other Soviet sailors? Do Albanians necessarily have no right to the Fleet?
Yes, of course
Did you leave the whole territory to me?
Yes.
That’s what I mean to you. In our country, do we not have any rights?! This American base is not. This is the base of the camp under our command. If he was in Bulgaria, he would be under Bulgarian command, in Romania under Romanian, and so on. How do you describe it now that the Soviets have taken over the base?
Very right.
Namely do you agree.
Our parties have already agreed in Moscow, at the meeting of the Warsaw Pact.
For this I told him what Bucharest was and what the meeting of the Warsaw Committee in Moscow was. Here they tried to argue, but did not know what to say, and the Romanian, when he was upset, said: He knew Enver well. Enver shouted!
Our party has taught us that when revisionists, the enemies of Marxism-Leninism, criticize or curse us, then we are fine. Had Gomulka praised us it would have been worse.
You mean that Gomulka is a revisionist?
He is a full-fledged chief revisionist.
You have also slandered your ambassador to Poland who wanted to kill him, that is where you started the steps.
I also talked to him about this and explained it to him. Here I told him that there are socialist countries that provide political asylum to the citizens of another socialist country.
They immediately mentioned the trade attaché of our embassy in Czechoslovakia and said: The Czech party and government have done very well.
What about your parties?
Of course. We give political asylum to every true communist who is contrary to Enver Hoxha’s line, just as we give it to all communists in every other country. Any communist can come to us. Do you in Albania provide political asylum?
We have neither given nor intend to give to the citizens of any socialist country, and we would not give, and if we did give, we would not act as Americans and revisionists do.
Continuing the conversation, they said that you are against the statement, now you are alone, and you support China. This is how Yugoslavia started in the beginning.
In response to what I said about these problems, I mentioned facts, starting to remind them once again of Bucharest, Moscow, etc. And in the end, I told him that our leadership is neither kissing nor will kissing the Belgrade revisionists, as some leaders of socialist countries do. I spoke to him again about revisionism.
In the end they addressed me: we have a special sympathy for you. You have known us since you came, and we loved you very much. You are a good boy and a hundred caresses, and in the end, half directly, they invited me if I wanted political asylum of my own to the Romanians, or the Bulgarians.
I also answered this and said, you do not find cracks to insert the knife into any Albanian. We are with the line of our Party, we are with Marxism-Leninism, and I advise you to look at yourself with that you are not at all okay. History and facts will tell. At this time a Soviet came, we interrupted the conversation and parted. / Memorie.al
Counselor
Gac Mazi
Moscow, 11 .VI.1961
