By Ferdinand Dervish
Second part
Continues from last issue
Memorie.al / The man who led to the shooting of the musician Gasper Çurçia and the postal engineer, Shkëlzen Doçin (from Tropoja), in April 1985, ironically, was the same man who had lured and entered these two , in the game of forgery for profit. This is more or less the content of the decision of the Court of Tirana, dated March 6, 1985, on the famous case of theft by means of train tickets. This man was exactly the train ticket seller at the Tirana station, Bukurie Gjeçi, at that time, the mother of two minor children.
According to the court’s decision, Gjeçi, systematically a year after starting work at the Tirana Train station as a ticket seller, began to put her hands in the cash register, taking different amounts of money from there, but never returning It., causing over the years, a lack of a significant amount of money. In the decision in question, it is stated: “From the development of the judicial investigation, it has emerged that the defendant Bukurie Gjeçi, started working as a clerk selling train tickets at the Tirana Train Station, as early as 1972.
This defendant, as a result of the foreign micro bourgeois concepts she had about the way of living and earning income, in a continuous and systematic manner, gave up appropriating the socialist wealth she had in administration, until she was caught on December 12, 1984. In this way, the defendant Bukurie, since 1973, until 1984, appropriated the socialist wealth in large proportions, in the amount of 220,000 ALL, from the cash register, from the sale of train tickets. The defendant Bukurie Gjeçi has used these appropriated amounts for her family needs, to help her parents, continuously for several years, her relatives, as well as by giving numerous debts and in considerable sums, to different persons, with whom he had acquaintance…”!
The second implicated
About two years after she had successfully started to receive money from the money collected after selling train tickets, Gjeçi implicates her first collaborator in this madness. The court does not specify his status, but says that his name was N. Hyskaj, he was an employee of NTUS (Social Food Trading Enterprise) of Tirana and that the amount received, without ever returning to the cash register, was 20,000 ALL, until in 1978.
“…In this way, the defendant Bukurie Gjeçi, since 1975, has from time to time given the defendant Nevruz Hyskaj, large sums of money, which have not been returned by the latter, since the year 1978, in 20,000 ALL. The defendant N. Hyskaj was aware that this money was from the state treasury, the long time it took to receive it, the impossibility of returning it, as well as the other fact that the defendant N. Hyskaj, from the end of 1983, had known about the big shortages that Bukurie Gjeçi had in the box office, as a result of her giving up the socialist property, as well as the joint efforts of these two defendants, to find a way to cover these shortages by forging tickets of the train, as it was realized later in fact, proves convincingly that this sum of 220,000 lek was appropriated by the two defendants, Bukurie Gjeçi and S. Hyskaj, in cooperation with each other…”!
Gasper Church
So, the well-known musician, the master of the trumpet, Gaspë Çurçia, has entered the game, at the exact moment when the two accomplices of the theft of the amounts from the cash register of the train tickets, had stolen so much that they had left no chance for him repair anything with honest work. It was at this time that they came up with the idea of forging tickets, in order to make a profit, but also to fill the empty coffers.
“In order to forge the train tickets, the defendant N. Hyskaj, with the knowledge and consent of the defendant Bukurie Gjeçi, talked with the defendant Gasper Çurçia, who was his friend, during the last months of 1983 and there from March-April 1984, agreed with him for the forgery of train tickets. In this way, both defendants became interested and found various tools and equipment, which would be used for forgery.
The defendant Hyskaj provided the relevant networks, the series of numbers, while the defendant Gaspër provided the films, developers and other equipment. After that, the above two defendants met with the defendant Bukurie, they informed her about the measures they had taken and regular samples of tickets and at the house of the defendant Gaspë Çurçia, they completely completed the compilation of a tray with train tickets , forged…”!
But, afraid of the fact that N. Hyskaj was very fond of alcohol and that in a drunken state he could eventually de-conspirator the group, Gasper Çurçia, in agreement with Bukurie Gjeçi, remove him from the group and continue the collaboration alone. , dividing the profit from the sale of fake tickets, no longer in three parts, but in two.
“As a result of these actions, by the defendants Gaspë Çurçia and Bukurie Gjeçi, the forgery of securities (train tickets) was carried out in an organized group and in large proportions, in the amount of 252,940 ALL. The production of forged tickets started from April, until December 1984, by selling them at the counter, by the defendant Bukurie.
The money realized from these actions was consumed by the two defendants, for various expenses in the family, giving loans to different people, to cover the deficits in the treasury, by the defendant Bukurie, for the crime of embezzlement of socialist property in large proportions, found in the apartment of the defendant Gaspër, 15,050 ALL, etc.”
The second line of forgery
It is not known why the investigation and the court had Gaspër Çurçina as the first line of the entire case, even though at least in one case, it is understood that there was another group of train ticket forgers who had started this work, at least a few months ahead of him in time. A truth that can be resolved, only by reading the politics of the time of communism, when the arrest, exposure and maximum punishment of a character who has shown even before that he did not obey the established rules, was more preferred to happen .
This is likely what happened to Gasper Çurçina, the well-known musician, who was “hit” for “foreign performances” at the 11th National Song Festival on the only Albanian Radio-Television, in 1973.
On the other hand, the head of the second group of forgers, whose name was Shkëlzen Doçi, even though he had previously started the activity of forging train tickets, because he was considered to have a good biography, because he worked in the same company, with the son of Enver Hoxha, because he had a relative in the Central Committee, is left in the shadows. Of course, this second group, also favored by the most available time, had managed to obtain larger sums of money, through forgery.
Here is the continuation of the decision of the Tirana Court: “The defendant Bukurie Gjeçi, always trying to realize illegal income and to find a way to cover the large differences, created as a result of the embezzlements carried out for a long time, initially, before talking with the defendant N. Hyskaj, he also talked with the defendant S. Sadkaj, whom he has known for many years, to find the possibility of forging train tickets, taking on her own, that she was ready to sell them at the counter and the proceeds from them would be divided proportionally between them…”!
The group of Shkëlzen Doçi
Thus, the train ticket seller had not immediately arrived at the perfect tickets designed by Gasper Çurçia, using the same stamping method as the original ones. She had previously tried, however successfully, to sell fake tickets, fabricated by simple photocopying, from another group. According to the court’s decision, the starting point for this was an acquaintance of hers, S. Sadkaj, a worker of the Shoe Factory.
But even this had not immediately gone to the key man, who would solve everything, thanks to his luck and position in society. His name was Shkëlzen Doçi, he graduated in engineering and was a clerk in the Transit Services Enterprise in the General Directorate of Post and Telecommunications, perhaps the only Albanian who at that time had a photocopier in his office.
But S. Sadkaj did not know Shkëlzen Doçi. To get to him, he needed the help of two other acquaintances. “…On his part, the defendant S. Sadkaj, about this conversation he had with the defendant Bukurie, informed his two friends, the defendants D. Vasho and B. Koxhaxhiku, asking for their help, for to find the way to forge the tickets, noting the profits they would have, dividing the money realized, proportionally.
The defendant S. Sadkaj, after receiving the approval for this action from the defendants D. Vasho and B. Koxhaxhiku, proposed the defendant Shkëlzen Doçi. to forge train tickets. The latter, being ordered to work in the General Directorate of Post and Telecommunications, and in the room where he worked there was a photocopier, by means of which the production of forged train tickets could be carried out, accepts this proposal, showed enthusiasm for the illegal income they would make from this criminal activity…”! In order to realize their goal, Doçi, Sadkaj and Vasho, had received from Bukurie Gjeçi, some original tickets, to have as samples for photocopying. But after their production, a big problem seems to arise, with the cutting of the paper trays, as it should be perfect. For this, everyone is interested and they make craft presses, as well as another machine, which was used to bind tickets into blocks.
Disbandment of the group
According to the decision of the Court of Tirana, after starting to receive the first benefits from the sale of tickets, which were forged in black and white, that is, without that characteristic color of a version of green, which the original tickets had, Shkëlzen Doçi’s group disbands. The reason for this is Shkëlzen Doçi himself, who understands that such an activity, if it were to go to the door of justice, would provoke severe punishments, due to the consummation of the criminal offense of cooperation.
In the court’s decision, it is stated that; Shkëlzen dismissed the others, in order to take all the profit himself, but there, another circumstance is clarified, according to which, the others of his group were finally convinced to withdraw from this enterprise even after they learned that, Bukurie Gjeçi there was a shortage of 200,000 ALL in the cash register. “Thus, the defendant Shkëlzen Doçi, through the defendant D. Vasho, knows the defendant Bukurie Gjeçi, after talking to her separately, since she knew about him, through the defendant S. Sadkaj, who had photocopied the train tickets, agrees with him that the actions were carried out jointly.
In this way, the defendant Shkëlzen continued to photocopy, cut and bind the forged tickets alone, but for a short time, forced by the difficulties created to cut and bind the tickets, he first connected with the defendant K. Shefqeti and later with the defendant B. Erebara. The last two defendants, according to the orders of the defendant Shkëlzen, have found and prepared equipment and tools, for cutting and tying tickets, in their work centers, as well as in the house of the defendant K. Shefqeti and in his studio the defendant B. Erebara, who was a painter and a member of the League of Writers…”! According to the Court’s decision, this group managed to forge train tickets worth 222,380 ALL, while both groups together forged tickets in the total amount, i.e. sold and unsold, totaling 475,320 ALL. , or 4.7 million old ALL, of that time.
Former colleagues: Gasper Çurçia, a musician who no longer comes…!
Gasper Çurçia from Shkodër has not remained in the minds of Albanians, only because he was convicted for forging train tickets. Much more than that, contemporaries remember with respect, his brilliance as a musician, equating it with the epithet “brilliant”, while the part of forgery, if you listen carefully, they add it at the end, as an insignificant appendix, they even add it, pronouncing it all bitter, as if what happened to him could have happened to any of them under the same circumstances Inevitably.
Aleksandër Lalo, the well-known composer, a close friend, affirms that: Gasper Çurçia was a man of courageous enterprises and one of the four or five most talented Albanian musicians of that time, exactly at the shoulder level of Agim Krajka, or Alfons Balliçi . “He was passionate, modern and brave. He didn’t ask too much and spoke his thoughts openly. This, maybe due to the fact that he was one of the best musicians, so he had a kind of shield, precisely success, maybe also because he was the scion of a very rich family, but expropriated by the system in Shkodër. So, it showed him that he was unhappy”, Maestro Lalo begins to speak about his friend. According to the well-known composer, he, Gasperi, created for the first time a Big-Band formation (orchestra of 12-25 musicians who play instruments, such as saxophones, trumpets, trombones, pianoforte, etc.), consisting of 15 musicians, with instruments that he had persistently provided, from the state. Very soon, Gasperi starts making the first recordings for Radio Tirana. And according to the well-known composer, Çurçia, he made about 30-40 such pieces, which are still preserved. At the same time, Çurçia also became known to the public as a master of the trumpet.
“He played in the best restaurants. It was in vogue at this time, and it soon became popular. He did a fantastic duet with Dzheku, (Muharrem Dautin), with whom he worked together on Radio”, remembers the composer Lalo. The publicist Fisnik Sina also remembers the same moment, that of Church’s success in the most popular bars. According to him, Çurçia together with another professional, who was called Bebeku and who played jazz perfectly, carried weight (playing jazz) hotel “Adriatikun” in Durrës.
“I remember that they were so successful that in that hotel, even foreign diplomats came from Tirana in cars with CD license plates to listen to the orchestra directed by Gasperi. Even on the beach, a large enthusiastic crowd gathered. I even remember that the orchestra that played the “rock” parts perfectly, managed to take the listeners or the dancers into ecstasy”, recounts the publicist Sina with nostalgia. Visually, Çurçia and his orchestra appeared for the first time in public at the 11th National Song Festival on Albanian Radio and Television, which took place on December 22 and 25, 1972 in Tirana. But this would also be the end of the famous musician’s brilliance. The hard times come immediately after the attack by the party, exactly this festival. Gasper Çurçia, completely without “immunity”, because of his origin, is fired from his job at Radio-Tirana and moves to Peshkopi. But he refuses to go, accepting even an ordinary job, so as not to leave his family.
“I remember that he started working as a guard at the Teaching Tools and that he received his salary where the villagers received it. But he didn’t give up”, says Gasper Çurçia’s friend, Aleksandër Lalo. According to the same, by making various letters, knocking on the doors of power, Gasper again manages to build his own formation, this time justified, like an orchestra with popular instruments. He even did a show at the Palace of Culture, but again they rejected the project, accusing him of; the music did not sound Albanian. As for the forgery, it was the last moment. This is where he went after his last initiative was rejected,” concludes the composer Lalo.
But again, even though he is arrested and ends up in court, the witnesses say that Church remains loyal to himself. “I remember that in the trial he did not deny the forgery. He told the judges that he had done it, but he added that what he had benefited from was a very small part compared to what the state had confiscated from his parents, merchants in Shkodër”, repeats a well-known joke in Tirana, publicist Fisnik Sina. Memorie.al
