By Dashnor Kaloçi
Part Four
Memorie.al / Exactly 48 years ago, on May 31, 1977, somewhere on the outskirts of Tirana, in a place that to this day remains undiscovered, a firing squad set up on special orders from the then Minister of the Interior, Kadri Hazbiu, executed with a bullet in the head, Abdyl Këllezin Koço Theodhosin, and Xhavit Sallakun, who had been arrested in 1975, accused by Enver Hoxha, as the main leaders of the “Saboteur Group in the Economy”. Along with Këllezin and Theodhosin, two other ministers, Kiço Ngjela (Minister of Trade) and Vasil Kati (Minister of Foreign Trade), were sentenced to 20 and 15 years in political prison, respectively, and several senior officials from the Ministry of Economy were also sentenced to heavy sentences.
Këllëzi and Theodhosi, former members of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Albanian People’s Party, deputies of the People’s Assembly and deputy prime ministers and ministers for more than three decades, were among the few from the top leadership of the Albanian People’s Party who had studied and graduated in the West, since the period of the Zog Monarchy, and likewise, Ngjela and Vasil Kati, had studied abroad and had returned to Albania immediately after the occupation of the country by fascist Italy, to join the partisan ranks, even with leadership functions. By striking this so-called “Hostile Saboteur Group in the Economy”, Enver Hoxha was striking the “brain of the Economy”, since from the end of the war until that time, Këllez, Theodhosi, Ngjela and Kati, had held key functions of the Albanian economy.
While these things are already very well known, as much has been said and written about them in the more than three decades since the collapse of the communist regime, Memorie.al has secured several documents belonging to the fund of the former Presidium of the People’s Assembly of the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania, headed by Haxhi Lleshi, who at that time examined the issue of the “Saboteur Group in the Economy”, based on the reports and information reports sent to it by the High Court headed by Aranit Çela, which also conducted the judicial process against that “Group”.
In addition to the above, the documents in question also include the requests of Këllez and Theodhos (in their own handwriting), sent to the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, for the pardon of life, as well as the minutes of the meetings of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, with the discussions of Enver Hoxha (who also gave the report at the beginning of the meeting) Haxhi Lleshi, Spiro Koleka, Shefqet Peçi (two vice-chairmen of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly), Telo Mezin (secretary of the Presidium), Jovan Bardhi, Muharrem Sefa, Nuredin Hoxha, Pilo Peristeri, Rrapo Dervishi, Spiro Moisiu, Zina Franja and Maliq Sadushi, members of the Presidium, which we will publish in several issues, along with the relevant photos and facsimiles.
Continued from the previous issue
ARCHIVE DOCUMENT WITH MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PRESIDIUM OF THE PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY, WHERE THE REQUESTS FOR THE PAROLE OF THE LIFE OF AVDYL KËLLEZ, KOÇO THEODHOSI, ETC. SENTENCED TO DEATH, BY THE SUPREME COURT WERE CONSIDERED
MINUTES
Held at the meeting of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, on May 31, 1977, Tuesday, 9:00 a.m.
The meeting is attended by comrades: Haxhi Lleshi (Chairman), Spiro Koleka, Shefqet Peçi (Vice-Chairman), Telo Mezini (Secretary), Enver Hoxha, Jovan Bardhi, Muharren Sefa, Nuredin Hoxha, Pilo Peristeri, Rrapo Dervishi, Spiro Moisiu, Zina Franja, Maliq Sadushi (members).
The death sentences are considered.
The death sentences are considered first, since comrade Aranit Çela is also present, to provide some clarification about them.Comrade Telo Mezini: We have here two death sentences (shooting) for Abdyl Këllez and Koço Theodhos. Both have requested a pardon for life.
The request for pardon of Abdyl Këllez and Koço Theodhos, sentenced to death (shooting), is unanimously rejected by all members of the Presidium.
Comrade Enver Hoxha: Comrade Chairman, I had something to say on this issue, although everyone agrees on this sentence. The traitors of the Party and the people, Abdyl Këllezi and Koço Theodhosi, have submitted requests for pardon to us; I, like you, are of the opinion that we should reject them and accept the just and deserved decision that the People’s Court gave to these old and sworn enemies of our Party and people. For such conspirators, saboteurs, intriguers and putschists, there should be not a shred of mercy.
Our entire people, the entire Party, condemned all these traitors, such as the group of Beqir Balluk, Abdyl Këllezi and Fadil Paçrami, with their friends, with hatred and this was a completely deserved sentence. These degenerate elements, as the investigation and the court unequivocally confirmed, were all organized with a platform and had a common goal, to seize power through coups and “massacres”, as the traitor Abdyl Këllezi put it, just as Beqir Balluku had previously said, expressing that; “of two eggs that are struggling, one will break”.
In an organized manner, these traitors aimed to seize the leadership of the Party, to take the reins of popular power and to transform the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania into a capitalist-revisionist country and the Party of Labor of Albania, this heroic Party, which liberated the people from foreign invaders and from the feudal bourgeoisie of the country and built socialism, into a fascist party. All of their activity, as the Party and the court confirmed, as these traitors themselves freely stated, was carried out in an organized and secret manner, also connected with revisionist enemies who are in power outside our homeland.
This was a very dangerous conspiracy, so the Party and our people, by discovering and unmasking it, achieved a complete victory. Many of these elements, such as Abdyl Këllezi, Koço Theodhosi and others, claimed that they had long been enemies of the Party, of our Republic and of socialism. They did not agree with the Party line and were always preparing to sabotage everything that came to their hand. For a time, these elements managed to disguise themselves and hide under the great momentum and enthusiasm of the Party and the working masses, to cover their undermining activity, which they disguised with the general line of the Party, supposedly with the need to strengthen the organization, supposedly for the development of the economy, supposedly for deeper and more sustainable studies in the economy, supposedly for the improvement and strengthening of the army, education, culture, etc.
And to a certain extent, this maneuver on their part lulled many cadres who were dependent on them, who often acted unintentionally, thinking that they were implementing the Party line. However, this cannot be an excuse on their part, because the Party has explained and clarified its line at every moment, what it is, what it consists of, how it should be broken down and how it should be implemented, and all this must be controlled. Here lies the flaw and lack of vigilance on their part, which, if it had been at the right height, these traitors would have been unmasked even earlier. But it must be understood that the activity of these enemies developed gradually and gradually they reached treason.
Their degeneration, as Marxist dialectics teaches us, developed step by step, because these elements introduced into the Party were only coated and wrapped in a thin film by that deep Marxist-Leninist education, ideological and moral policy, with which the Party protects its members. These people were rotten, with large micro-bourgeois residues, which thickened and entered into conflict with the Party first, not antagonistically, but then also antagonistically. Thus, their activity passed from quantity to quality and, when this moment arrived, then the Party, as always, with great vigilance and prudence, laid hands on them and thwarted their plans.
The Party has always fought resolutely against enemies, external and internal, who have been neither few nor gentle in their hostility. The Party has always crushed its internal enemies and will crush them again in the future, whoever they may be, alone or in groups, connected or not connected with external enemies. Our enemies will never succeed in their hostile activity against the Party, because, of course, these sufferings become lessons for the Party, sharpen its vigilance and the sword of the dictatorship of the proletariat, for the defense of our People’s Socialist Republic, for the defense of the freedom and sovereignty of the fatherland, for the defense of the purity of Marxism-Leninism.
Therefore, we should have no mercy for such traitorous elements. But from this hostile work, every person in our country must draw lessons and conclusions, to understand deeply how the enemy acts openly, how he acts even in disguise. When one acts openly, it is easier to discover the enemy, but when one acts secretly, if vigilance is lost, if the directives, teachings, and Marxism-Leninism that guides our Party do not become flesh and blood of our people, then, of course, the enemy’s discovery becomes more difficult and his hostile activity causes damage. When the Party teaches us in detail that in addition to the antagonistic contradictions between the people and their enemies, there are also non-antagonistic contradictions, these two issues of great importance, everyone must understand their depth and philosophical breadth and know how to distinguish them in time in the development of life, in the struggle for life, for socialism.
When the Party signals to us that in the consciences of our people, there are micro-bourgeois remnants of the past of that backward, idealistic, metaphysical philosophy, this means that our people in life, in work and in war, must always study critically their own activity and that of the comrades around them and make efforts to correct themselves, while working to correct our comrades as well, showing them the danger of every manifestation and also showing them the right path that everyone must follow, for this or that problem, which they see wrongly.
The Party has emphasized this and constantly says it every day in its activity, in its writings, in all its documents, in its conferences and in its Congresses. To love the Party with all your heart means to carry out its directives to the end, it means to first learn and understand these directives well and to apply them in life, to be demanding first of all of yourself in your actions and thoughts, then of your comrades and society. In other words, one must stand upright and correct before the Party, before its directives, teachings and theory.
Some people suffer from arrogance, from conceit, they overestimate themselves and their work and, in doing so, of course, they underestimate others. Not moving from their views and attitudes, which are of course wrong, they also come to wrong conclusions, to wrong equations, which they either keep inside and do not express and thus accumulate in themselves a dissatisfaction that grows more and more every day, or they express it, but instead of expressing it before the Party, before healthy opinion, it appears in intimate circles, among “comrades” and thus a dangerous disease, a sick society, is created on a sick basis.
Such a society gradually then passes into an opposition, at first small, then turns into a contradiction that is still not antagonistic and, if this path is not abandoned and the Party does not reveal it to them, then the sick views turn into a hostile work, into antagonistic contradictions. Usually, when such activity is discovered, the people guilty to some extent continue their sick defense, but when the infected elements are presented with facts and documents, then they come up with two claims: “Why didn’t the Party tell us, or should the Party forgive us?”
The first demand, why didn’t the Party tell us, is something right to say, because the Party, when it sees a person making a mistake, has a duty to call him out and point out his mistake, and in general I can say that the Party does this duty successfully. But these people who make mistakes should know that the Party has constantly, through its numerous documents, through speeches, through resolutions, through congresses, told everyone openly how communists and patriots should stand before the problems of life. This is the first issue.
Secondly, the Party should not only tell such people their mistakes, but they themselves should first come to tell the Party about the mistakes they have made, and they even have a duty to tell it, because if they don’t do this, then the Party is not to blame when it reveals their mistakes. In this case, they are to blame and this blame weighs even more on them, because such positions are not in the Party’s path.
For some who may have opposing opinions about a problem or another problem, about a person or another person, what does the Party teach us to do? It teaches us that these opinions should be openly expressed in the Party, discussed, and challenged. They may be right, they may also be wrong, the person who has such opinions may be right, but they may not be right, they may be accusing without basis, but they may be criticizing correctly, therefore everything should be said openly in the Party and not by ear, not to create a sick society, which thickens the error and all that sick mentality that forms like a boil for a certain situation, or even in general against the Party’s line, leads people astray.
In all the activities of these elements who betrayed the Party, who betrayed the construction of socialism in our country, we see such a process developing, thickening and taking on dangerous forms. Many of these manifestations, when they were seen, were pointed out to Beqir Balluk, Petrit Duma, Hito Çako, Abdyl Këllez, Koço Theodhosi, Fadil Paçrami, Kiço Ngjela, Vasil Kati and many others.
But the fact is that they have turned tail, have deceived the leadership, have continued on their path, have overestimated their views and the secret organization that they were preparing against the Party and the people’s power, they have also overestimated the support that could come to them from abroad for this anti-party and anti-state activity of theirs.
The Party must understand that such ambitious people, such careerists, their arrogance, careerist tendencies and ambition cannot keep them on the right path of the people, the Party and socialism, because they see all issues from an individualistic, subjectivist angle, from the prism of their bourgeois interest and not from that of the proletarian interest, of the general interest of the people and of socialism.
The Party, as we know, has always acted with great patience towards people who make mistakes, because it is not guided by a metaphysical point of view, it recognizes that people make mistakes and therefore must be corrected, efforts must be made to save them, and only when there is no possibility of saving them, then they must be punished until they go to the bullet, as these traitors will go. This Marxist-Leninist maturity of our Party has been proven throughout its life.
Some ill-wishers may call this line of our Party sectarian, there are others who may call it soft, opportunistic, but both sides are mistaken. Our Party is a principled Marxist-Leninist party, an enemy of sectarianism and opportunism. The Party’s patience in saving people cannot be called opportunism at all, just as its severity against enemies and traitors cannot be called sectarianism at all.
This means that our Party, which defends the interests of the people, the proletariat, and socialism, is moving in the right direction, and therefore we must all be fair to it, be correct in its line, support this line with all our might, be honest like the people, like communists, be determined like revolutionaries, like communists.
We must also be open and honest with the Party, and when I say with the Party, by this we must mean with the entire Party, with its line as a whole, with all its members, with all forums, from Party Congresses to committees, bureaus, and grassroots organizations. It is not permissible to be honest or to rub the hands of one person or three people and not weigh the others at all. No, this is not the Party’s path, everyone has their place and the Party gives them this place, the Party judges whether the one who has this place deserves it or not, and the Party judges again when he does not deserve it.
The enemies who were sentenced to death, like those who were shot before, like Abdyl Këllezi and Koço Theodhosin, as well as the others who were sentenced to imprisonment, like Kiço Ngjela and Vasil Kati, all admitted their guilt, their intrigues and evil deeds, therefore now let them suffer the punishments that the great justice of the people gave them, let them suffer them in all the degrees that the court has assigned to them, because they fully deserve these punishments for their hostile and traitorous activity against the socialist homeland, against the people and against our Party of Labor of Albania.
Chairman: Comrade Enver’s very important speech will be a lesson for the entire Party, the government, and the people.
Let’s continue with these other things.
The death sentence (shooting) Xhavit Ymer Sallaku and Osman Ymer Zalla, sentenced to death (shooting), have not requested a pardon. The Presidium of the People’s Assembly agrees with the decisions taken by the Fier District Court and the Kruja District Court, respectively, decisions that were also upheld by the Judicial Council of the Criminal College of the Supreme Court.
The death sentence (shooting) of Shaban Myslim Lika is also upheld.
Comrade Enver Hoxha: I wanted to ask one thing, Comrade Chairman.
Is it necessary for us to consider those who do not want a pardon and do not want to write a letter to the Presidium?
Comrade Aranit Çela: Comrade Enver, this is not by law. We have seen it necessary, we have requested this from the Presidium. This is also necessary for us, indirectly as a kind of control. The Presidium does not enter into guilt or innocence, but, nevertheless, we have seen it as reasonable. This is how to judge, but we ourselves have insisted on it.
Comrade Enver Hoxha: Agreed.
Chairman: It seems to me that it is a fair practice, that there can be some exceptions. Let’s continue like this, comrade Enver, with this tradition.
Comrade Enver Hoxha: Agreed.
The meeting is closed.
Tirana, on 31.5.1977. Memorie.al
SECRETARY OF THE PRESIDIUM
Telo Mezini
