Dashnor Kaloçi
Memorie.al publishes some archival documents extracted from a voluminous file of the Central State Archive (fund of the former Central Committee of the ALP), with the logo “Top secret” and long declassified, where there is a record of the meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the ALP held in January 1989, where the extraordinary event that took place on January 6 of that year was analyzed, where the trawler “DukatI”, while going out to sea to openly in the Adriatic, was taken hostage by its captain, Enver Meta, who, after holding seven of its crew hostage, arrived at the port of Brindisi in Italy, along with eight of his comrades who had hidden them in the barns. of the ship since the Port of Durres. All the heated debates between the members of the Politburo in that marathon meeting that took place under the leadership of Ramiz Alia, where the “comrades of the leadership” have made mutual accusations, up to their internal family problems, which caused a a real storm, with drastic measures being taken with the arrests and dismissals of about 30 officials and senior officials, starting with the non-commissioned officer who had not properly exercised control over the ship, the director of the Seaport, the Chairman of the Branch of the Interior Agron Tafa, the first secretary of the Durrës Party Committee, Qirjako Mihali, the Director of State Security, Zylyftar Ramizi, and even the Minister of Interior, Hekuran Isai.
“I have information that your children Qirjako, even your driver, enter the port freely, take boats and go hunting at sea? Anyone can enter the port, Qirjako? Why should your children and others enter from the port to go out to sea for fish or for a walk? The port is a border area ”?! This is what Ramiz Alia said, addressing, among others, Qirjako Mihali, the first secretary of the Durrës District Party committee, at a meeting of the Politburo held in January 1989, after the extraordinary event that took place in on January 6 of that year, when the fisherman “Dukati”, while going hunting in the waters of the Adriatic Sea, was taken hostage by its captain, Enver Meta, and eight of his friends who had hidden in the barns of the ship, arrived at the port of Brindisi, with seven members of its crew held hostage. Regarding this serious event that not only caused great problems between official Tirana and the Italian state, but also shook the communist regime by making drastic measures with arrests, dismissals, and convictions of about 30 officials and senior officials, starting with the non-commissioned officer who had not properly exercised control over the ship, the director of the Seaport, the Chairman of the Internal Affairs Branch Agron Tafa, the first secretary of the Durrës Party Committee, Qirjako Mihali, the Director of State Security, Zylyftar Ramizi, up to the Minister of Interior, Hekuran Isai, etc., are known in five consecutive issues published by Memorie.al. While in some of the following issues, we are publishing the minutes of the meeting of the Politburo, which was held and analyzed that serious event (even the most unusual until then for the communist regime of Tirana), where the comrades of leadership ”, not only have they discussed“ with partisanship and a high sense of responsibility ”for the problem they had gathered, but they have also made mutual accusations about their family problems.
Meeting of the Politburo for the event of the escape of the ship “Dukati”
FOURTH ISSUE: “DIFFERENT” (DURRËS EVENT)
COMRADE RITA MARKO: This event shows that the situation in the district of Durrës in general is not good, that there is a worrying problem in this area, therefore the comrades of the Party Committee and in particular, Comrade Qirjako should learn from what happened. This event shows that not only the rules have been violated but also the Security bodies do not take into account that the Port of Durres has been a major object for foreign agencies. The port has always had a number of workers in different sectors, and even when there were not many mechanisms, there were even more workers. Since the heroic act of Spiro Kote in the port, there has always been the danger of the action of foreign agencies. The military rules of the border regime were violated because the Security organs, the Police, and the operative workers in the port, did not perform their duty. Even the work of the Party and the organs of power in the 6 port enterprises has not been at the right level. So this event happened not only because the rules were violated but the Security bodies and the checkpoint in the port did not exercise strong control over economic organisms. In the port is “Interklub”, other customs, so all these problems should be seen in the complex. Surely there must be other phenomena in the port. I am also impressed by the case of the citizen who gave the gold to the soldier and could not be caught, although the command had been notified about this before. This is a very serious thing to do about this issue that we are discussing today. The escape that happened in Hani i Hotit, last year was not a lesson for Agron Tafa now in Durrës. The Party Committee of the Durrës District did not learn from this event either. In the report presented by the Ministry of Interior, especially the Committee of the Durrës District Party, no in-depth analysis is made of this problem, no conclusions are drawn, no serious attitude is maintained towards the cadres, for the responsibility they have for this serious event, and no tasks are set for the basic organizations of the Party for the so important role that these delicate sectors have. The Party in the district is responsible for this, the Fisheries Enterprise, but the greatest responsibility lies with Comrade Qirjako and the comrades of the Party and the Durrës district bureau. I have the impression that these friends are not worried about what happened. The person in charge also has the Department of Internal Affairs with Comrade Agron in charge. As proposed in the report of the Central Committee of the Party, as well as to be dismissed from office, because the mistakes are serious and repeated, yes and self-criticism did not. Ferit Zeneli proposed for himself that we should dismiss him, while comrade Agron Tafa did not. Measures should be taken for Ferit Zenel as well. Measures should be taken for the comrades of the First Directorate and for Zylyftari. Comrade Hekuran needs to learn more lessons about the weaknesses observed in this sector, that these mistakes are not only repeated but have created concerns for the state, and for our entire Security system. Hekuran needs to have more organizational strength to get things done and to be more demanding of his subordinates and to fight weaknesses at work. For all his skills and the work that Comrade Hekuran does, he has not found the strength to fight family and escalate closed work. He must discover some internal problems himself and must precede them with concrete solutions and make them aware, not when these things happen. We must admit that there are great weaknesses in the Border and Police bodies. The police force is not felt enough by the citizens, there is some uncertainty about the protection of property, order, and in some cases mistakes have been made. These problems have been beaten up by fellow police officers, but have not been brought to an end. Therefore both the police and the border need to be strengthened a lot, of course without excluding other important bodies such as the Security. Comrade Hekuarn’s mistakes as a minister are serious. I will tell the Politburo and for an action for a bad action of his son, let the friends know. Hekuran’s son, who is in the fourth year of university, along with some thugs, went to the Faculty of Economics, and broke the windows, lamps, and most severely beat the pedagogue. You should go to the faculty comrade Hekuran and condemn this action of your son, that you are a parent. It was very hard for me when I found out. We need to look at these things too. Friends should also be very careful about their lives. I think that some nests, I mean those for hunting, should be closed and given to tourism. I believe my friends understand, I have more about their lives. However, some employees of the internal affairs bodies find hunting necessary for the nature of their work. As for the measures, Comrade Hekuran should be warned. I also have a remark for the apparatus comrades of the Central Committee of the Party. The report presented by the comrades of the apparatus was very good, but always after the events take place, the apparatus of the Central Committee, the Politburo, must notify. As we said, the bodies of internal affairs and especially the Security, are a closed sector and the whole can not be included in their work. Despite this, the apparatus of the Central Committee of the Party must stay very close to these bodies, control them, help them, but also inform the Politburo when there is a problem of concern. I have the impression that the apparatus of the Central Committee has not raised it as a problem at the Politburo, for the work of the internal affairs bodies. As a member of the Politburo, although I connect with these bodies, indirectly, I am not satisfied with this. I therefore think that the apparatus of the Central Committee should not be a judge only when things happen. Very serious things have happened to us in the Security organs, and we have faced them. Enemies and foreign agencies try to hit the most sensitive sectors, such as the Security. We must therefore be strong and agile in covering up and preventing hostile activity. Party committees in the districts should stay closer to these bodies, and help their staff to grow as much as possible as a political level. The chairmen of the Internal Branches in the districts are the members of the bureau of the district party committees. So where is their responsibility for this problem? Even the comrades of the Party Committee of the Tirana district, in my opinion, are not sufficiently accountable to the bodies of internal affairs. Work should not be measured only by meetings, but by results. Comrade Zylyftar said that work is measured only by results, but he himself is measuring it by the meetings he has held. On Sunday, the “Partizani” cinema burned down. Therefore, the Party Committees in the districts, and the apparatus of the Central Committee of the Party should be in charge of the internal affairs bodies. This will be a boon to their work. This apparatus should help and encourage the district party committees to get deeper into the party’s work in these bodies. This will be a help to their work, and will strengthen these bodies in the fight against the enemies. The control of the Party should be strengthened in the ministry as well. That was all I had.
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: Well, who else will speak?
COMRADE PHOTO ÇAMI: Me, Comrade Ramiz. The case they are discussing is extremely serious and because it is not the first time such things happen. This happened before several other events, especially after the escape to Hani i Hotit, for which all those criticisms were made for years by the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Party, and measures were taken. The recent event that took place in Durrës showed that the comrades did not reflect deeply and the measures taken were one-sided and partial. And in this case we repeated the phenomenon that has been criticized several times by Comrade Ramiz, that when a defect is discovered in a sector or an event like this occurs in a field, measures are taken only to eliminate this defect and not to prevent these phenomena in all sectors nationwide. As for the event we are analyzing, everything is quite clear. Enemies were able to carry out their work for significant weaknesses in the field of vigilance, discipline, enforcement of rules, in exercising control over other measures taken to prevent such acts. There are serious shortcomings and weaknesses in this regard and in the work of the police, border, and Security bodies, in the work of the Party and economic enterprises. All this is widely discussed in the materials that have been presented, especially in that of the apparatus of the Central Committee of the MIA Party. Whereas the material presented by the Durrës Party Committee is shallow, it does not make a deep and comprehensive analysis of the problem and the situation that led to this bitter event. The material talks more about what has been done than about what happened. The main and most important cause of the weaknesses we are criticizing, should not be sought so much in organizational shortcomings, technical shortcomings, non-implementation of rules and lack of control in this regard. These are the main causes, but the main factor that led to this event, is the ideological aspect, is the underestimation of the work of the enemy, the spirit of liberalism and indifference, which have led to flagrant violations of discipline, breaking rules, lack of control and others. These enabled the enemies to accomplish their purpose. There seems to be a great misunderstanding in the class struggle, as if now the class war has subsided, as if the enemies have become kinder, wiser and calmer, that what we are going through is a period of calm and the only preoccupation is the economy . Exactly the extinction of political vigilance, of the revolutionary spirit, the spread of the spirit of liberalism and indifference, have been and are the main goals of our enemies, internally and externally. This spirit is especially dangerous when it affects the organs of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the organizations of the Party. But this is very dangerous in a port city, such as Durrës which has a large and heterogeneous population, entry and exit from inside and outside. Here is the great responsibility of the Party Committee of the Durrës district and of Comrade Qirjako as the first secretary of this district. Qirjakoja himself in my opinion does not set a good example in this regard. People say he is more concerned about hunting than work. And other things in Durrës are not going well. Deficits in industrial and agricultural production are large, supply problems of the people are worrying. Therefore, I agree with the measure proposed in the material of the Central Committee of the Party for Comrade Qirjako. While the main cause of this event is the ideological factor I also see my responsibility in the weaknesses that were criticized here. We have held seminars on ideological and political education issues, we have exercised controls in the districts, but apparently the effectiveness of our work has not been at the required level. From this analysis we must draw lessons and reflect more deeply, to intensify the ideological and political work of the Party with its levers for educating the people. COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: Now Comrade Pirro Kondi has the floor
COMRADE PIRRO KONDI: The event in Durrës, as the comrades said, is very serious for the fact that it happened after 2-3 other events of this character. As Comrade Rita said, seeing the problem through the prism of the Party’s work, the Party Committee of the Durrës district has a serious responsibility for this event in the first place. Given the reasons that led to this event, the Committee of the Tirana District Party has responsibilities in terms of the spirit of liberalism that is observed in the implementation of regulatory decisions. The “Partizani” cinema in Tirana burned down, precisely because there was a lack of control over the implementation of the regulation. We try to make checks for work discipline that the arrival and departure of employees on schedule, violation of which has serious consequences. Violation of the rules leaves room for hostile activity, theft and damage to socialist property. In this regard, there are many shortcomings in the organization of work, as Comrade Foto said, there is liberalism, starting with us. These phenomena are not evaluated with the political eye, therefore, appropriate measures are not taken to avoid them. We need to reflect on concrete measures. I have the second issue for the bodies of internal affairs. From the work of the Internal Directorate of Tirana, but also from the work of the ministry itself, I conclude that a shallow work is done with collaborators and the agency. Some things from the ministry and from the Internal Directorate of Tirana, I can not talk about the Internal Affairs Branch of Durres, should be seen in the concept of duty. The key is how to get in touch with collaborators to prevent hostile activity. Thus, the task of the internal affairs bodies is to get in touch with the collaborators to prevent hostile activity, from the very beginning. If 9 people are organized to escape, 1 of them must be discovered by the Security organs, therefore the professional development must be at the required level. A person can only carry out hostile activities and not be detected, but when this is done in an organized manner, there is no professional training for the Security employee unless it is detected. I have found that in the organizational aspect of the Internal Directorate of Tirana, there are many shortcomings and a large fragmentation of links. I have pointed out to the friends of this directorate, and I have suggested that they see this problem together with the ministry. Yes, and in the ministry it seems to me that there is a great fragmentation of links. Many branches, sectors, and sub-sectors have been created, there are many controllers in charge and few employees who deal with the organizational work of the Security. So there is more paperwork and the main work is left. Therefore this issue should be seen with a lot of responsibility by the Security comrades. This problem is generally posed to the departments, But in particular in the organs of internal affairs there is a great fragmentation of links which then enter into other actions. As the comrades said, the report presented by the apparatus of the Central Committee of the Party is good. I also agree with the proposed measures.
COMRADE PALI MISKA: I am also saying some thoughts, Comrade Ramiz. Such events have serious consequences for our state. These have opened up big problems that we have been able to overcome. But the latter adds more apsos that it is repeated. These serious situations have a strong political character and the main responsibility lies with Comrade Hekuran and Comrade Qirjako. The event in the Port of Durrës shows that no lessons have been learned from the events that have taken place before. For these phenomena, a deep carpet should have been made in the work of the bodies of the Ministry of Interior, and work should have been done with the directives of Comrade Enver for these bodies. Comrade Ramiz’s speech at the meeting of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Party, which made an analysis of the escape to Hani i Hotit, excites you. In this speech, he raises big problems, and talks about those issues that Comrade Enver also spoke about. It talks about the family, about the closed work of the MIA bodies. I am of the opinion that both the MUP Party Committee, as well as this ministry itself, together with its bodies, have not worked properly with the speech of Comrade Ramiz. Had they learned lessons from this talk, such events would not have happened. To the enemies, both Italians and Yugoslavs, we have given a gun in hand, and that is a minus for us. That is why they accuse us of keeping it surrounded by barbed wire and others. COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: The Balkan meeting opens tomorrow.
COMRADE PALI MISKA: For the poor work done by one or the other employee of the internal affairs bodies, our people and our state should not suffer. These are capital and important issues for our state and society. Therefore, we must appreciate them deeply. The committees of the Parties of the districts, especially those of Durrës, Korça, and Shkodra, without excluding the border districts, should have done an intensive ideological and political work against foreign appearances, and for the prevention of malicious activity and crimes, because for many phenomena negative suffer the border districts. The committees of the Party of the districts had to do a frontal work in unraveling the conclusions and orientations for the event that happened a year ago, in Hani i Hotit. In the district of Korça, there are many tendencies for escape and for crimes that appear in different forms, but we have been able to identify them and hit them in due time. Last year two groups were caught and put in jail for the escape tendency. The party in the district has intensified the fight against foreign influences and performances, organizing various meetings and activities. But these negative phenomena are not few in the district of Durrës or in any other district. Therefore, Comrade Qirjako and the department he leads must learn from what happened. I raised it in the 6th Plenum of the Central Committee of the ALP, that our example is extremely important for strengthening the work of the party in the districts. We must devote ourselves wholeheartedly to solving the problems that concern the party and the people. We should not leave people to talk about this or that action, but to be correct in our attitudes. Therefore, the criticisms made about the weaknesses in the Durrës Party Committee, let Comrade Qirjako learn lessons. I, as friends, also have the opinion that in the presented report, the Durrës Party Committee easily went through things, gave information that “this and that happened”, so an in-depth analysis of the Party’s work in the district was not done. In addition to the intensification of the work of the Party, the intelligence work of the internal affairs bodies should also be intensified. This depends a lot on the task that the Party Committees of the districts were assigned to the internal affairs bodies, on the control we make for their implementation, on the demand for accountability, so they criticize or pet them when they do not do their job. Also in this context, the work should be improved in terms of the information provided by the internal affairs bodies. The information must be real and not fictitious. In the district of Korça, negative phenomena and actions of evil elements are really evident, but no channel of Greek or Yugoslav intelligence work is being discovered so far. Surely channels that work and the Greek and others have. These are big problems for our state. COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: We would be naive to think that there are no channels, it is even absurd.
COMRADE PALI MISKA: Numerous measures have been taken for the events that took place at the border, disciplinary measures, state measures and party measures, some comrades have been released, some have been sentenced to prison. Many employees of these bodies have been punished with measures. This places moral responsibilities on either the Party committees of the respective districts or the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The battalion commander is directly responsible for the escapes that occur at the border, he is burned, but also the district Party Committee has a moral responsibility for these phenomena. Therefore, do not insist only on punitive measures, that measures do not solve everything. For the escape of these 9 people, some cadres will be fired. Ultimately, the enemy intends to take as many measures as possible against our people, to compromise as many cadres as possible. I am not saying that no measures should be taken or that they should be soft, but the main thing is the preventive work that should be done to cut the path of the birth of these phenomena, so that our people do not make serious mistakes. I agree with the measures proposed in the apparatus material of the Central Committee of the Party. This will be a great lesson for the Party Committees of other districts as well. Even the comrades of the Politburo who are in the districts, should appreciate these problems and take measures to prevent such events from happening again. The key is to strengthen the unity of the people and ensure a peaceful life. These were me, comrade Ramiz./Memorie.al
Continues tomorrow
