By Dashnor Kaloçi
Part Nine
Memorie.al/ 43 years ago, on the morning of December 18, 1981, the Albanian Prime Minister Mehmet Shehu, who held that position since 1953, was found dead in his bedroom (according to the official version, from a bullet from a pistol) in the villa where he lived with his family, at the entrance of the ‘Block’ where the high leadership of the PPSH (Party of Labor of Albania) resided, just a few meters from the building of the Central Committee of the PPSH and also the villa of Enver Hoxha. Although more than four decades have passed since that day, regarded as one of the most serious and sensational events of that regime, there still lacks a clear and accurate version regarding what happened to the former Albanian Prime Minister, Mehmet Shehu, in the midnight hours leading up to December 18, 1981! Even though after the 1990s, dozens of testimonies and archival documents related to that event have been made public, the ‘murder or suicide of Mehmet Shehu’ continues to be a subject of extensive debates and discussions, further shrouding the truth surrounding it in mystery!
Prompted by this fact, in the context of publishing dozens of testimonies and files with archival documents from the secret fund of the former State Security and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, or the Central Committee of the PPSH that we have published in these three decades after the collapse of Enver Hoxha’s communist regime and that of his successor, Ramiz Alia, Memorie.al has obtained the voluminous file of ‘the enemy Mehmet Shehu,’ which has been extracted from the secret fund of the former State Security (under the Ministry of Internal Affairs), where, with a few minor exceptions, most of them have never seen the light of publication and are being published for the first time.
In this aforementioned file, there are complete and corresponding facsimiles of the expert report from the operative-investigative group that was established immediately on the morning of December 18, 1981, headed by Koço Josifi (chairman of the Investigation of the Directorate of Internal Affairs of Tirana), forensic doctors Dr. Fatos Hartito and Docent Bashkim Çuberi, the prime minister’s physicians, Milto Kostaqi and Llesh Rroku, as well as the forensic expert from the Central Criminal Laboratory of the Ministry of Interior, Estref Myftari, assisted by high officials of that ministry, Xhule Çiraku, Elham Gjika, and Lahedin Bardhi.
Additionally, in the voluminous file we are making public, there are testimonies from the family members of former Prime Minister Mehmet Shehu, service personnel, and his escort group, as well as all other individuals who were summoned and testified regarding that event. For more on this, the documents in question inform us, which we are publishing along with relevant facsimiles and photos.
To be continued from the previous issue
ARCHIVAL DOCUMENT, WITH THE MINUTES OF THE INTERROGATION OF WITNESS BEKTASH MUHARREM HANXHARI, BY INVESTIGATOR BASHKIM CAKA OF THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS
P R O C E S – V E R B A L
(Interrogation of the witness)
Today, on June 10, 1983, in Tirana.
I, the investigator of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Bashkim Caka, take the witness statement from:
1. Name, father’s name, surname: Bektash Muharrem Hanxhari.
2. Date of birth (day, month, year): 1949, Tragjas.
3. Education: Higher, Ministry of Internal Affairs.
4. Place of residence: Saranda, Neighborhood No. 4.
5. Position: Officer at D.P.B. Saranda.
6. Party membership: APPSH (Labor Party of Albania).
7. Criminal record: Not convicted.
8. Identification number….
9. Relations with the accused….
The investigator warned me about the criminal responsibility, according to Article 202 of the Penal Code, for false testimony.
SIGNATURE OF THE WITNESS
Bektash Hanxhari
In 1970, I started working as an officer in the escort group of the enemy Mehmet Shehu. In 1973, Ali Çeno also came to this escort group as an officer, becoming the group commander. Regarding Mehmet Shehu’s hostile activities, Fiqret Shehu, Kadri Hazbiu, and others, I do not know of any concrete facts in this regard.
However, I will explain some moments that have caught my attention. From the group of enemies of Mehmet and Fiqret Shehu, during my service alongside them, I was treated very poorly; they would insult us and yell at us, whether it was appropriate or not, as if we were servants.
Especially recently, it was clear that the families were heading towards general degeneration; they often came home late at night and occasionally were intoxicated. At the end of September, Ali Çeno went to Sweden with Skënder Shehu and Gani Kodra, and during this time, I was accompanying the enemy Mehmet Shehu. One afternoon, Mehmet Shehu called me and asked if I knew where Ali Çeno had left a “Makarov” pistol.
I told him that Ali Çeno had not left anything for me, but I would check to see if he had left it in the safe. After searching, I found the pistol in Ali Çeno’s safe and went to tell Mehmet Shehu that I had found the pistol. Mehmet Shehu told me, “Clean and maintain the pistol, change the bullets to have all new ones, and bring me the pistol.” I followed his instructions, assigned an officer to clean it, and brought the cleaned pistol with new ammunition to Mehmet Shehu.
As I learned later, it was precisely with this pistol that Mehmet Shehu had committed suicide. Immediately after the suicide of enemy Mehmet Shehu, I raised this issue through party channels, emphasizing that the fact that enemy Mehmet Shehu had asked for this pistol many days before he killed himself indicates that at that moment, he had decided something, to commit some criminal act.
During my time working here, I noticed that Mehmet Shehu kept Ali Çeno close, discussing many things with him, even work-related issues. They would take walks in the garden of the house and talk for hours. In fact, the breakup of Skënder Shehu’s engagement with Silva Turdiu occurred at Ali Çeno’s house.
Before getting engaged to Silva Turdiu, Skënder Shehu had a relationship with a girl named (…..)! According to a conversation I had with Ali Çeno about this issue when we were on vacation in Durrës, Ali Çeno told me that Mehmet Shehu had more connection with (…..), and I told him that she was an immoral girl with a bad background.
However, Ali told me that Mehmet Shehu had tasked Feçor Shehu to clarify this matter, who told Mehmet Shehu that she was a good girl. I’m not sure if what Ali Çeno told me at that time was true, but the conversation that Ali Çeno had with me was just as I explained.
On December 1, 1981, I started leave to take exams at the Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and I learned about Mehmet Shehu’s suicide while at school. Since December 1, 1981, I did not go back to work in the escort group at the house of enemy Mehmet Shehu.
In a conversation I had with Ali Çeno, he told me that he had been called to the Ministry of Internal Affairs by Feçor Shehu, and he was told, “Ali, why didn’t you tell me that Mehmet Shehu is using soldiers from the Guard as drivers for wild boar hunting?!”
In this conversation, where there were also other people whose names I do not remember, he told us, “I told Feçor Shehu that you know this, as you have also been hunting when soldiers were used as drivers for wild boar hunting.”
“As far as I remember, this happened sometime after the suicide of enemy Mehmet Shehu. I also know very well that Feçor Shehu was with Mehmet Shehu more than once for wild boar hunting, where he personally saw how soldiers were used for hunting. I clearly remember that Feçor Shehu came with Mehmet Shehu for wild boar hunting in Velipojë.
After the minutes were read to me, and my statements were recorded correctly, I sign it without comments. Memorie.al
The Witness The Investigator
Bektash Hanxhari Bashkim Caka
To be continued in the next issue
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