By Dashnor Kaloçi
Part Seven
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
MINUTES OF THE INTERROGATION OF HAMIT ARFIF MYRTJA, BY THE INVESTIGATOR OF THE SHKODRA INTERNAL BRANCH, JAKE TEFIKU, OCTOBER 1976
Minutes
The defendant Hamit Myrto was re-interrogated and said: “When I was in Titograd and those last two civilians questioned me, they constantly and repeatedly put pressure on me, telling me; tell us what you know about the situation in Albania, otherwise we will return you to Albania. They told me that the Albanian government has requested and is insistently requesting your return to Albania, if we return you to us there, you have committed crimes and they will certainly shoot you. I answered them by saying that I know nothing other than what I have told them. They promised me that we will not return you to Albania, we will provide you with work and housing here in Yugoslavia.
They told me several times in this way, but I told them that I know nothing else. They insisted and asked me about the establishment of missile bases, but I did not tell them that I did not know. They told me about the letters that were dropped in Shkodra against the Albanian Communist Party, I had actually heard that they were dropped, but I told them that I don’t know. And I didn’t sign any of the documents they compiled with my statements. I told them that I don’t sign any document you make, because I don’t know what’s written in it, they told me that these are being asked for as documents, so sign your statements. When they pressured me that we would take you to Albania, rather than stay here, why did your wife and children drown and now you don’t beg for your life.
I forgot to say that those who asked me, persistently asked me for the number of rockets, but I only saw them in the parade in Tirana and nowhere else, so I don’t know even today where the rockets were placed. They also asked me if there were other groups in Albania that are against the Party, but I didn’t know of any such groups and I told them that I had no knowledge.
I read the process and signed it.
The defendant Investigator
Hamit Myrtja Jake Tefiku
ARCHIVE DOCUMENT WITH THE DECISION ON THE EXPERTISE OF THE LETTER OF HAMIT ARIF MYRTO, BY THE EXPERT GJOLEK YMERI, FOUND IN HIS HOUSE, WHICH HE HAD LEFT AT ENVER HOXHA’S ADDRESS
DECISION
For the conduct of the expertise
In the city of Shkodra, on 15.10.1976, I Jake Tefiku, investigator of the Internal Affairs Branch, after studying the material on the issue of treason, terror and hostile propaganda, which concerns Hamit Arif Myrtja.
I realized
That in the late hours of the night of August 31, 1976, the defendant Hamit Myrto, after having made previous preparations to escape, left and went to the Fishing Center to get a boat. There, after killing the Fishing Guard, Fadil Rrezian, he took the boat and escaped with his family to Yugoslavia. Before he escaped, he wrote a letter with hostile content against the Party and the Government.
DECIDED
To conduct an expert examination on this matter, calling as an expert, officer Gjolek Ymeri. He will provide answers to these questions:
- Whether or not it was written by the hand of Hamit Myrtos?
- The conclusion should be given to us in writing, and the original should be returned to us.
I would like you to send this letter with an envelope that I have written to Enver Hoxha.
I am writing this letter just for information, I did not do this for fun, but out of concern, I have been working since I was 12 years old and today I have barely earned a living and the children in this house that you see do not live like animals, not people, my mouth has turned upside down, I have made requests, both to the enterprise and to the Committee, I have heard the problems, but they have considered me a Yugoslav, therefore since I am a Yugoslav, I am going to Yugoslavia.
In 1969, I think it was in December, I went to the Central Committee for housing complaints, they sent me to Agime Kapisyzi, and she told me why did you go to Tirana, I won’t give you a house, as far as I understood, the secretary of the Central Committee wanted to send me away, so since then, I have not been happy at all. When it comes to burning, they say I don’t know anything?
That’s why you and the director of the N.I.Sh. Fishing, Thoma Liti, tell us that you are a fisherman, work and protect. When director Thoma Liti and comrade Eljaz Laçi, who was the party secretary, when I complained to them about my plight, and when I shared it with the collective, both the director and comrade Eljaz, and my coworkers, would take it from me and scold me, when I showed them that I was cramped, 5 people in three meters of space, my furniture rotted down in the basement.
Then I would be happy with these, and last year the director himself lowered the price of fish and this year they lowered it by fifteen days, we counted, good and bad fish, both together, my average dropped by 3 lek and a quarter, last year without good fish, the bad one cost me 7 lek, so this is like stripping it, peeling it off, this is how the people can’t love the Communist Party, after fifteen years in the company, there was a reduction like in the cigarette factory, the worker had 18 years of work, well the reduction then how was she satisfied with the shares, they say that the employees themselves go, no, it’s not true, they take them with a bang, this is how I lie to the world on television.
That we have plenty of work. My wife has been unemployed for six years now. Only in Tulla and on the farm with 50 old lekë per day, is she able to live on 1000 old lekë?! That’s why the worker lowers his category, from seventh to sixth, to the one who instead of raising him, on the contrary, lowers him, you don’t have the people in the situation, he says loudly, you don’t want 2500 lekë in fifteen days, or 3000, I couldn’t live. That’s why Albania surrounds the borders with fences and not Yugoslavia, let them live freely like in other countries, they had been there for 15 years, that’s why Enver Hoxha, your friends, Beqir Balluku, Petrit Dumja, Rrahman Parllaku etc., betrayed your brothers. Because they too have understood that this is not how to live. It is a life of poverty, a cruel life.
D.V. Hamit Arif Myrtja
Secretary of Investigation
Afërdita Kruja
EXPERT REPORT OF THE LETTER OF HAMIT ARIF MYRTAJ SENT TO ENVER HOXHA, BY THE EXPERT GJOLEK YMERI, ON OCTOBER 27, 1976
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA
MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Shkodra, on 27.10.1976
INTERNAL AFFAIRS BRANCH
“Forensic Laboratory”
Act No. 48
On the graphic examination of a letter
By decision dated 15.10.1976, of investigator Jake Tefiku, a letter with hostile content was sent to us as the object of the expertise, as well as a manuscript of Hamit Myrtos.
The expertise requires: 1. Whether the letter with hostile content, the object of this expertise, was written or not by Hamit Myrtos.
Forensic examination and examination
The subject material of this expertise is a letter written on four pages, ordinary lined paper, written with a pen in a violent color, it begins with the words: “I leave this letter to you for your information”, and ends at the end of the fourth page with the words: “It is a cruel life for poor people: D.V. Hamit Myrtja”.
The subject material of this expertise is written in ordinary free writing, by hand and from the study done, it results that there are enough general and specific elements to determine the author of this manuscript. Its general signs are, it is an unattached writing, with a mixture, its slope is mixed, it is an unattached writing. Its topographical signs are, the field of its extension, there is a black field, writing written above the line and below the line, with an extended extension.
Its fine marks are: the beginning and end of a line, the usual breaks and interruptions of sentences, both between lines and between sentences. The features of the direction of movement of some letters during connections with writing elements are like those of semi-oval letters, such as; “q, a, c, ë, e, d, p”, others are with a shift from right to left, and with an extension of their complementary elements.
The manuscript is a comparison sample, with the presentation of several lines written at the end of a letter dated 13.5.1976 by Hamit Myrtja with a fountain pen, which after being studied, turns out to be abundant for comparison and common elements with that of the manuscript object of this expertise. These are both general and specific elements.
Based on the above data, as well as the tables of dedications of manuscripts and graphic expertise, we are entitled to arrive at the following:
Conclusions
The letter with hostile content, the subject of this examination, found in Hamit Myrto’s apartment, was written by Hamit Arif Myrtja himself.
V.O. Together we return the examined materials.
Criminal Expert
Gjolek Ymeri
Prayer Date 13.5.76
My name is Hamit Aarif Myrtja, born in the village of Shiroka, resident in the “Partizani” neighborhood of Shkodra, fisherman by profession, born in 1944, married with 3 children, the fifth in total.
The place where I live is located in a two-by-two-and-a-half-room kitchen, in the building of the Sadokali Inn.
The authorities in the neighborhood and the place of work where I work have verified the place where I live, they are aware of this, the neighborhood has responded to me and told me that we do not have a contingent, when they come to us, we will look at your work, while our fishing company does not have housing for shelter.
I have all my personal belongings scattered around the neighborhood and some of my furniture is being damaged by the humidity, which I have in a basement. I am addressing the People’s Council, because the place where I live is not in hygienic conditions, the boards and rails are rotten, I believe that the request I am addressing should be taken into account, considering my needs where I live.
With honors and respect
Hamit Arifi
This is, for your information, a copy of the letter I sent to the Committee.
DECISION
FOR PERFORMING THE EXPERTISE
In the city of Shkodra, on October 28, 1976, I, Jake Tefiku, investigator at the Internal Affairs Branch, after studying the material regarding the case of the defendant Hamit Arif Myrtja, which concerns the crimes of hostile propaganda, terror, and treason against the homeland.
I realized
That the aforementioned has been accused of having developed hostile activity that is found in propaganda, in committing the act of terror against an official person, and has committed the act of treason against the homeland in the form of fleeing abroad. During his investigation by the investigator in recent days, he has shown signs of a crisis and a momentary confusion which he has accompanied with headaches and crying. In order to see if he is responsible for the acts committed.
DECIDED
To conduct an expert examination on this issue by calling as an expert, the doctor of the Shkodra Civil Hospital, Sandër Ashta, who will provide answers to these questions:
- What disease does the defendant Hamit Arif Myrtja suffer from?
- Is he responsible for the crimes committed?
- The conclusions should be given to us in writing. Memorie.al
INVESTIGATOR
Jake Tefiku
To be continued in the next issue
