Dashnor Kaloçi
Memorie.al publishes the unfamiliar story with the gripping testimonies of Kristo Budo, a former partisan with leadership functions and imprisoned in the Pristina Camp during the War, and afterwards, with high duties, as: Deputy Head of the Peshkopi Interior, Secretary of the Fier Executive Committee and chief inspector of the Prime Minister’s Office, who was arrested in 1959 on charges of being an “agent of the Greeks”, for which their father, Thoma Budo, was also executed. Budo’s memoirs: “How were officers tortured in the forests of Kërrabë by officers Asaf Kondi, Irfan Hoxha, Hilmi Dume, etc., in inhumane ways in the presence of the Prosecutor General, Arian Çela and the Minister of Internal Affairs, Kadri Hazbiu said: ‘Kristo, I have an order to torture you.’ As well as the trial of Budo after two and a half years of investigating where people who had been sentenced to death as provocateurs and witnesses were brought in, and how the Chief Judge, Nevzat Haznedari, refused to accept the Supreme Court Military College’s decision to assist: Bilbil Klosi, Minister of Justice, Nedret Hoxha, Deputy Minister, Irakli Bozo, Frederik Nosi, Lazi Stratobërdha, etc., who acquitted Kristo, sending him back to prison and internment ?!
Memories of Kristo Budo: Tortures in Hazbiu’s Presence
“In May 1959, when I was serving in the Tropoja district, I was arrested by the State Security on the charge of ‘being put to the service of the Greeks.’ I dismissed the charge and stated in both the investigator, the torture chamber and the courtroom that I had never betrayed my homeland. I asked for verifications to be made, as the allegations were not true. I have said this before the Minister of Internal Affairs, Kadri Hazbiu, even with a written letter. I’ve also said it before Rexhep Koll, Aran Çela, Faik Minarolli, Nevzat Haznedari, Asaf Kondi etc. I was held in the Investigator (dungeon) for two and a half years without being sued and in violation of applicable laws. During my time in the investigator, for months and months, I was tortured by the most inhumane, which did not occur even at the time of the Inquisition. These tortures were made in the forests of Qafë-Krraba and burned my body gums with fried iron in the fire. There I was stripped of my ten toes, tearing them one by one in great pain until I fainted. They beat me until I had blood and my legs and body were blackened, kept under torture all day, and only in the evenings was I half-dead. In addition to the pain, I had to cope with the simultaneous provocations of those in my dungeon Nevzat Haznedari, who remain to me the most humiliating people I have ever known. These tortures were attended by Nevzat Haznedari (Director of Investigation at the time), this cruel man and the executioner, whose conscience aggravates so many crimes and persecutions that it is difficult to describe them all. It was this Nevzat who at the time of Koci Xoxes in 1948, was sharply criticized for arbitrary violence. And now in 1960, this same Nevzat in a more important post, uses the same methods of violence, even more severe, and instead of having his hand out, for “merit” is promoted general ?! Officers Asaf Kondi, Irfan Hoxha and others also participate in these inhumane tortures. As Officer Hilmi Dume injects me in order to avoid it. In my presence, Kadri Hazbiu issued torture orders. One day he told me, ‘I have an order to torture’. Who could order Kadri Hazbi except Enver Hoxha and Mehmet Shehu, the two greatest dictators of our state ?! As a participant in the National Liberation War and for revolutionary activity, I was also imprisoned and interned in the infamous Pristina camp, but I must confess that such torture was not even done to the fascist occupation. ”
Budo: My suicide attempt
“Such tortures were unbearable not only for humans but also for animals, so one day I decided to end my life by slamming my head against the dungeon wall. Two wounds were opened but the skull was not cleaved. Dr. Lambi Zicishti came up with the stitches for the stitches. I knew that suicide was punishable and a negative plus for me, but in the circumstances I was in, I preferred death. It was salvation. All these and many other arbitrary physical and mental actions were not enough, but Kadri Hazbiu and Nevzat Haznedari succeeded in bringing witnesses to death who, in order to save their skin and instigated by Haznaris made all sorts of false slanders and dumps. But I did not see them in my trial anymore, and as I learned from the prosecutor, they were executed. It should also be said that Qadri Hazbiu and others were very compromised in my case, they held legal responsibility for all that they had done against me, so they demanded at all costs to be sentenced to death by court and thus to cover up their illicit actions once and for all to cover the matter. ”
The interogation process
“I have to say that with my process the Prosecution has dealt with three people: Aranit Cela, Attorney General and his two deputies, Faik Minarolli and Vangjel Kocani. It is known that by law the Prosecutor’s Office is charged with controlling the investigation process and enforcing legality in investigations. But in my case, they did the opposite and applied what the Investigator said to the detriment of the defendant and the truth. I am illustrating this statement with some examples that concern me alone and not others. It was Aranit Çela himself who, in the capacity of Attorney General, issued a power of attorney after authorizing me to extend my trial for two and a half years without being tried. The Criminal Code did not allow this. He was aware that I had been subjected to inhumane torture and violence in investigations, which were prohibited by law, but Araniti did not take any measures to detain them. The truth is that no punishment was imposed on my torturers then and later. In my letter of March 7, 1963 personally sent to Aranit Key, I have also spoken of the tortures I had received, but I never received any response. It is a fact that his deputy, Faik Minarolli, was riding in the car along with Nevzat Haznedari, when they took me to torture me in the Qafe-Krraba forests. So it was the Prosecution that controlled the investigation process. ”
The farse of my trial
“The adjudication of my case has a separate story. The day before they brought me to court, Nevzat Haznedari called me and said: ‘The letter you have given to the family, we will not give it. Ask for mercy and say; I am of war and poor, etc. ” To act as Nevzat demanded would mean to admit guilt I had never done. I was judged by the Military College of the Supreme Court. The panel consisted of Colonel Sotir Spiro (presiding) and Lieutenant Colonel Rasim Bazo and Sami Kolaneci members. Representative of the indictment was Vangjel Kocani. The secretary was Vangjeli Terova, and the lawyer was Nexhmedin Shehu. Even before the trial, I accepted the allegation in whole or in part and stated that I had never betrayed my homeland. I requested that verifications be made as the allegations were not true. I also talked about the inhumane accusations that were made to me. Despite the prosecutor’s refusal, the panel accepted my request. So the Military College, after a lengthy report which began on September 21, 1961, repeated itself on October 2, 1961, and returned to the Security Authorities my investigative file as irregular, assigning a variety of tasks for verifications, witnesses, and inspections. missing documents, etc., dated November 24, 1961, made the final decision, declaring me innocent of lack of evidence and ordering my immediate release from prison. My innocence was claimed twice and my lawyer, whom I saw for the first time in the courtroom, where I gave the indictment as he was not even given it, without having to meet with me in the cell during the investigation . However he defended me well, relying solely on the court hearings, my depositions, the witnesses and the documents that were tried at my request. ”
Budo: “The court released me in the hall, while the Security took me to Zvernec”
“But what happened to Kristo Budo after the Supreme Court Military College acquitted him and ordered him released in the courtroom? Concerning this, in his memoirs, among other things, Budo writes: “What happened in the courtroom was really an unheard of scandal with no precedent in the annals of judicial history. As soon as the panel left, many people in the room, Nevzat Haznedari, entered the room, accompanied by a group of officers, who ordered the captain to take me back to prison. The Captain replied: ‘How can I get Mr. General prison, he got the innocence?’ Nevzat said to him, ‘I command you.’ So after Haznedar’s order, I was taken down the corridor to be taken to my cell. There we met with the presiding judge, Sotir Spiron, who said to the captain: ‘Where is Christo Budo taking him, why did you hook him up, he took the innocence’ ?! The desert captain, bowing his head, replied, ‘That’s how General Nevzati ordered me.’ But could Nevzat Haznedari do such a thing on his own initiative ?! Someone had ordered him to do so, and I can confidently say that even Qadri Hazbi himself could not get there. By doing so, the State Security authorities violated not only me but also the Supreme Court itself, implying some key Justice cadres who assisted in the initiation of my process, such as: Bilbil Klosi, Minister of Justice, Nedret Hoxha, Deputy Minister, Irakli Bozo, Frederik Nosi, Lazi Stratobërdha, etc., that the State Security had “carta bianka” from their own captor, Enver Hoxha, and no one would raise their voice or oppose these bodies. So, instead of going to my family, they kept me in jail for another day, and the next day I was interned for 5 years on Zvernec Island. After five years, I was again arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison, which I spent all in Ballsh prison. ”/Memorie.al
