Dashnor Kaloçi
The fifth part
Memorie.al publishes some archival documents extracted from the Central State Archive in Tirana (the fund of the former Presidium of the People’s Assembly of the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania), which belong to 1983 and are part of a file labeled “Top Secret ”, where all the correspondence between the Supreme Court of the People’s Republic of Albania, the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Central Committee of the PPSh is located, regarding the materials in charge of four former senior officials of the leadership and the Albanian government, such as: Kadri Hazbiu, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the ALP, Minister of Internal Affairs and Minister of People’s Protection, Llambi Zicishti, Minister of Health, Feçor Shehu, Deputy Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs , as well as Llambi Peçinit, director of the Directorate of Physical Protection and Security of the senior leadership of the APS, who in 1982 were arrested as “enemies of pullit” and were held in the investigation of Tirana near “Department 313”, with the charge: “associates of the police agent Mehmet Shehu”. In the file in question, in addition to the indictment of the Supreme Court of the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania (chaired by Aranit Çela), which sentenced to death Kadri Hazbi, Llambi Pečin, Feçor Shehu and Mihallaq Ziçishti, there are also documents with the minutes of the meeting of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly chaired by Ramiz Alia, (where the following participated: Rita Marko, Xhafer Spahiu, Mine Guri, Sihat Tozaj, Eleni Selenica, Elmaz Puto, Faik Çinaj, Ibrahim Gjevori, Nik Shyti, Petrit Gaçe, Rrahman Hanku, Simon Ballabani, Stefan Qirjako, as well as invited the President of the Supreme Court, Aranit Çela and the Prosecutor General of the Republic, Rrapi Mino), where the majority of its members discussed, considering the requests that the four defendants had sent to that high forum, for the pardon of life.
Continues from last issue
The ‘Top Secret’ document with the minutes of the meeting of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly of the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania, regarding the requests made by Kadri Hazbiu, Llambi Ziçishti, Feçor Shehu and Llambi Peçini, for the pardon of life… !
Top Secret
Minutes
Held at the meeting of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, on Friday, at 9:00 a.m.
Friends participated in the meeting: Ramiz Alia (President), Rita Marko, Xhafer Spahiu, Mine Guri, (Vice Presidents), Sihat Tozaj (Secretary), Eleni Selenica, Elmaz Puto, Faik Çinaj, Ibrahim Gjevori, Nik Shyti, Petrit Gaçe, Rrahman Hanku, Simon Ballabani, Stefan Qirjako, (Members). My friend Lumturi Rexha (Antare) is missing for health reasons. Comrades Aranit Cela (President of the Supreme Court) and Rrapi Mino (General Prosecutor) have been invited to participate.
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: Then, on the part of the Soviet revisionists, an undermining work was undertaken against the Party leadership. This mining work was not done at the Party Congress because it was difficult to do it there, but it was done at the Tirana Conference. Why?!
Because the First Secretary of the Party Committee for Tirana was Fiqrete Shehu, the Director of the Directorate of Internal Affairs was Feçor Shehu, the Minister of Internal Affairs was Kadri Hazbiu, the delegate of the Central Committee of the Party at the conference was Beqir Balluku, etc.
Yugoslav and Soviet agencies, as it turned out later and from the trial, acted directly (which we did not know before) in order to set up the Tirana Party Conference, against the Party line, to impose on the leadership what the leadership was objecting. That is, what our leadership was opposing to the Soviets, they wanted to impose on them allegedly as a demand of the base.
Those who lived through that time remember well that at the Tirana Conference, some of the demands were: to review the line of the official position towards Yugoslavia, to review the issue of Koci Xoxe, Tuk Jakovo, Bedri Spahi, etc., and to attack the leadership of the Party for a rigid and strict sectarian line, etc., etc.
So they were looking for some democratization that was actually nothing but a liberalism and revisionism, as was the line of revisionism in those years.
It was the first conspiracy at the Tirana Party Conference where these agents we are talking about, jumped into hostile activity, but very carefully. Fiqrete Shehu, testified in court, quite openly, about how they organized this activity.
Thus, the Yugoslavs had especially encouraged the group of Dali Ndreu, Hulusi Spahiu, Liri Gegë, who were the most aggressive in these attacks, and who came out more openly.
Iljaz Ahmeti, Veip Demi, Vandush Vinçani, Njazi Jaho, etc. also came out openly. Fiqrete Shehu, together with Beqir Balluku, who were the leaders of this conference, left all these discussions free, because as it turned out in the trial, Feçor Shehu transmitted to Fiqreti the directive of the Yugoslavs for this purpose. But what happened?!
They saw that at the Tirana Conference, it was going further than their prediction, that some of these enemies got excited and went further than they should have. This is how it started to get an open wind that here we are dealing with a hostile work and these were not acceptable “demagogic” demands that they could discuss.
Faced with this difficulty, and in order not to oppose them themselves, they called for Comrade Enver to come.
It is known that Comrade Enver went and exposed him, at the same time defeating the hostile purpose of this conspiracy. And the plot was unmasked along with some enemy elements that were revealed at this conference. But in fact these snakes we are talking about, the day they gather their legs and hide.
Although it seems to me that in the trial of Foni Cirko, it turned out that these issues were discussed with Beqir Balluku and Kiço Ngjela. While the relevant data was entered in the archive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and was not given to the Party. In a word, these received instructions to protect their comrades, the enemies who were now judged. How could they do this?!
The specificity of this group was that they had both the nut and the stone in their hands. They also had the Ministry of Internal Affairs in their hands, where they manipulated various materials to hide any possible traces of suspicion.
And in fact these traces in 1956, they hid. They hid the traces of Mehmet Shehu who was at the head of this conspiracy, they hid the traces of Beqir Balluku who was the delegate of the Central Committee, they hid the traces of Kadri Hazbi and Feçor Shehu, etc.
Fiqrete Shehu could not hide because she was the Secretary of the Party for Tirana, but she was removed from that post allegedly as a victim of an activity that was done without her knowledge.
You already know that the Central Committee of the Party at that time, considering such an action as a lack of vigilance, dismissed her from her position as the First Secretary of the Party for Tirana, put a remark on her registration card, and from being a member of the Committee Central Party, turned her into a candidate of the Central Committee.
This was the disciplinary action taken against him. But now it turns out that Fiqreti was fully aware of this activity, which he hid from the Central Committee of the Party at that time. So this was, so to speak, the first collectively organized attempt of this group to attack the Party.
But their attempt failed. After that, traces of some enemy elements began to appear, such as the case of Panajot Plaku, the case of Dali Ndreu and Liri Gegë, etc.
In this trial, it has emerged that these thugs then took measures for them to escape outside. They succeeded with Panajot Plaku, but failed with Dali Ndreu and Liri Gega. However, they again hid their tracks and continued their activity against the Party. If we follow the course of events, we will notice that these enemies, at key moments of the Party, have come against it.
In the trial it was fully proven that in 1960, when Mehmet Shehu was ill in Moscow, at the time when the Bucharest Meeting was held, Kosigini had a conversation with Mehmet Shehu where he tasked him to come to Albania, for to correct the position that Hysni Kapo was holding, on behalf of the Central Committee of the Labor Party of Albania in Bucharest.
Because according to them, the position that our Party was taking was an anti-Soviet position and for this the steering wheel should be turned. For this purpose, Mehmet Shehu has urgently left Moscow for
Tirana. This was fully proven in the trial, and this was confirmed by Nesti Nase, who was present there. Nesti Nase was an agent of the Soviets and they spoke openly with him.
Nesti Nase did not reveal on what basis he became an agent of the Soviets, but he admitted that he had great intimacy with the Soviets, even with Andropov, Poljanski, Pospyllov, Kozlov, with whom he constantly ate and drank. So he showed that he could have many other things with them. And it is indisputable that in such conditions he is compromised.
COMRADE ARANIT ÇELA: He admitted that he was one of them, but did not explain how he was recruited.
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: The very fact that he acted in this way proves everything. At the same time, he admits that the Soviets told him that Mehmet Shehu was sent to Albania, for this purpose and what he should do. He admitted that he spoke openly against our leadership with the Soviets and that they spoke to him in the same way.
So even in 1960, at this critical time for the politics of the Party and the fate of socialism in Albania, we see that Mehmet Shehu is put in motion. But what happened next?! Mehmet Shehu came to Albania but he did not know what had happened to Liri Belishova, he did not know that the Central Committee of the Labor Party of Albania had severely criticized Liri Belishova, because in China she had taken an opposite position to the line of the party.
Mehmet Shehu, as soon as he came here was informed; he dragged his feet and could not carry out the task that the Soviets had assigned him. Why?! If Mehmet Shehu came out and said: “What are we doing in Bucharest, why are we in a hurry?!”, he would suffer like Liri Belishova.
COMRADE RITA MARKO: And Liri Belishova was criticized, letters were sent to her.
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: Yes, Comrade Enver had sent two letters to Liri Belishova when she was abroad, telling her that she was deviating and that she should return to Albania. So Mehmet Shehu gathered his feet and let things go their way.
It must be said that these thugs have also favored the situations created along with the coincidences. So, for example, if we took a principled stance towards the Soviet Union in 1960, it suited the Yugoslavs. Why?!
Because they thought about Albania that by breaking away from the Soviet Union, you would have a greater opportunity to put it under your arm. The secession of Albania from the Soviet Union was also of interest to the Americans because it meant the departure of the Soviets from the Adriatic and Ionian seas, which was in the strategic interest of the Americans.
So, in this sense, the right policy of our Party coincided with the interests of the United States of America and Yugoslavia. But our policy was started and made not for the interests of the Americans, but to preserve the interests of Albania, the interests of socialism and the independence of our country.
Not only then but also today, Albania’s independence is of interest to both sides as neither side wants Albania to become a base for the Americans or the Soviets, or any other country. Such coincidences also happen in politics. This eased Mehmet Shehu’s burden, since by leaving the Soviets on one side, as well as not fulfilling their wishes, he was removed as determined on the Party’s path.
But that’s how he fulfilled the desire of the Americans and the Yugoslavs. Therefore, he directed his entire gang in this direction. Therefore, this is one of the reasons that have made it difficult to discover them, since this time when our Party fought heroically against revisionism. These “joined” the Party line, and came out with the banner of anti-revisionism.
After the beating of Koço Tashko, Liri Belishova, and Maqo Çomo, we see that their activity for a long time, at least as it appears from the documents administered in court, is much more reserved. But the years pass.
There is no doubt that neither the Americans, nor the Soviets, nor the Yugoslavs, want Albania to continue the path of socialism, the path of independence, its path to fight against the Americans, against the Soviets, but also against the Yugoslavs.
Josip Broz Tito’s plan was to include Albania within the Federation of Yugoslavia. And he begins to act, especially after 1968, after the great demonstrations of Kosovo took place.
After these demonstrations, Tito was forced to grant some rights to Kosovo, among others to establish the University of Pristina, to recognize the right to the flag; Aleksandër Rankovici was unmasked, etc.
At this time, the other Titista idea was born that Kosovo would become a bridge of union with Albania. He justified this by allegedly having good relations with Albania, but his main goal was for Kosovo to serve as a bridge to devour Albania. And in that period, if you remember, bilateral relations began to intensify.
In 1968, when the 500th anniversary of Gjergj Kastriot Skenderbeu was celebrated, the first Kosovar delegation came, then groups of people started coming, groups from the university, but our groups also went there, university lecturers also went, etc.
During this period, Titism began to intensify its plans against Albania, and together with it, other espionage agencies also began to intensify their work.
At this time, Mehmet Shehu’s group begins to move. Todi Lubonja started with Fadil Paçram, on the ideological level. We are in the years 1972-1973.
Beqir Balluku started together with his group, in the military plan, in the years 1973-1974, and the group of Abdyl Këllez and Koço Theodhos, in the economic plan. This period coincides with the fact that friend Enver was sick. Memorie.al
