Dashnor Kaloçi
The seventh 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: Therefore, under these circumstances, Mehmet Shehu should be liquidated. So Kadri Hazbiu seems to have gone specifically for this matter. Either in the version that Fiqretja says which Mehmeti told him after the meeting with Kadriu, or in the other version that Kadriu threatened him. The fact is that Mehmet Shehu should leave the scene. And so it happened, Mehmet Shehu ran away from the scene.
The Yugoslav Agency immediately came to the aid of Kadri Hazbiu. She, in her program, sent Xhevdet Mustafa’s gang, which was fully proven in court. One of the members of this gang testified in court: “I have come to meet Kadri Hazbi, and to tell him that Xhevdet Mustafa has the duty to kill Enver Hoxha”.
Kadri Hazbiu would tell him where and when the assassination would take place, in order for Kadri to combine the assassination with the development of the military coup, to take power. Even this witness says: “We left with urgency.” But why did they leave with urgency?! Keep in mind that in September, Comrade Enver’s Synoptic Table was prepared, and in this synoptic table, some question marks were raised.
Among others, Teme Sejko’s issue was raised, that in 1960, the Americans were attacking Albania, which meant that they would go to war with the Soviets, who were concentrated in the Military-Naval Base of Vlora. But logically, if the Americans wanted to enter the war with the Soviets, they entered Berlin, why should they enter Vlora?! From the strategic point of view, Berlin is more important.
But it is more than clear that this was a manipulation of the Soviets. That is, the Soviets, having Teme Sejko, their man, and this being at the same time an old agent of the Greeks and the Americans, used this to deposit that the Americans were supposedly preparing to land in Albania at that time. Indirectly or rather directly, they told us: “Look, you want to remove the base of Vlora, you want to get worse with the Soviets, but the 6th American fleet is coming, who will protect you”? !
That is, they wanted to force our Party to change its political position, not to go against the Soviets, not to remove the Vlora Base, in order for the Soviets to be present here. So this was completely done in agreement between Mehmet Shehu, Kadri Hazbiu, Beqir Balluku, etc., just as it came out from the court process itself. Comrade Enver threw these doubts in the Synoptic Table. This burned Kadri Hazbi since the day after Comrade Enver Hoxha spoke at the Central Committee, Kadriu wrote a letter to Comrade Enver, where he tried to explain to him how this matter was, but in fact he could not explain anything. So Kadriu was burned by this, and he realized that something is going wrong here for him.
On the other hand, Feçor Shehu, Mihallaq Ziçishti, etc. were arrested. Kadri Hazbiu apparently felt that his legs were shaking and not only that, but at this time we had asked Kadri to tell us that for all these things that had happened in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, was there or not was he also responsible?! So if only that in the general plan, was Kadri Hazbiu responsible or not, he felt the danger. He also understood that we would not limit ourselves to that.
At the same time, he saw that all these people who had worked with him in the Ministry of Internal Affairs came out, such as: Feçor Shehu, Mihallaq Ziçishti, Llambi Peçini, etc. So Kadri got scared and he saw himself narrowly. This is confirmed by the statements of the incoming bandit. And what did this thug who came with Xhevdet Mustafa say?! “We were in a hurry to come to Albania, as we had planned to come later. But that Yugoslav came to us and told us that we should leave as soon as possible, with great urgency, as we needed it”.
So it is clear that right now Kadri Hazbiu saw that his positions were shaking. And in fact, in that period, Kadriu started to worry after some slogans appeared in Tirana as if he “had escaped together with his family”. Kadriu said the same thing in the meeting. He came to me officially in the Central Committee and told me: “What is this matter, the slogans have come out”. “Well,” I said, “what are we going to do now?! The enemy is throwing up slogans and we can’t go on the radio and say that’s not true”!
I also told him that: “the day after tomorrow I will speak at the meeting of the Democratic Front, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Peza Conference, where the entire Political Bureau would be, so he would be there. And the people would see him in television”. I also told him that: “to go to the Peza party, so that they would take it on TV, because we had nothing else to do.” So he had started to feel this. And the Yugoslavs rushed to help you very quickly. And as you know, the gang came. Her fate is already known. But Xhevdet Mustafa wanted to assassinate his friend Enver, as he would contact Kadri Hazbiu.
So, as you can see, Kadri Hazbiu continued his hostile activity until the last minutes. But Kadri Hazbi’s activity is not today’s. It emerged from the trial that he had direct contact with Ranković’s agents since 1952-1953. One of the witnesses, who were heard on this matter, testified with facts about his betrayal. This witness was one of our people who had gone through an assignment in Yugoslavia, and was injured after falling in an attempt as a result of the denunciation by Kadri Hazbiu. And he had documented this with names, time, and everything, and he said this in front of Kadri.
The criminal plans of these bandits are monstrous. Remember, and the crimes of these others, especially of Llambi Ziçishti, who thought with such coolness, and about the ways in which he would assassinate Comrade Enver, to what extent and in what forms and actions, should be done after death, etc., etc. . These really revolt you, and you see what ferocious enemies you are dealing with. This was an extremely dangerous conspiracy, you could even say that it was, if not the most dangerous in the history of the Party and our People, because it lived for a very long time at the head of the Party.
He could not act openly, as he had great fear of the unity of the Party and the People, of the personality and authority of Comrade Enver, especially because they feared him the most. Besides, it does not reduce their dangerousness. On the contrary, when you hear about all these crimes, in the full sense of the word, despite the fact that they couldn’t do it the way they thought, it’s really creepy. For us, this is a great lesson that we must increase vigilance, always be loyal to the Party line, loyal to the principles of the Party. Before the line and the principles, no person counts and we should not be guided by what this one said or that one said.
This does not mean that we have doubts about people, we do not have doubts about people, but we love them when they follow the Party line, we love people when they stick to the principles of the Party. And this is because we know that the Party’s principles, the Party’s line, and its teachings and Comrade Enver’s, are the guides for our lives, for our attitudes today and tomorrow. Every cadre communist should think that by stepping outside the Party line, it does the Party no good. Departing from the principles of the Party, it is not good for the people either. Moving from the Party line does not do socialism any good.
Everyone should get this firmly in their heads. So when it is not good for the Party, when it is not good for the People, when it is not good for Socialism, it is not good for anyone. Therefore, everyone on their front, in their work, must faithfully adhere to the Party’s line and principles. That doesn’t mean we don’t discuss, that doesn’t mean we don’t exchange ideas, that doesn’t mean we don’t express our opinions. On the contrary, we boldly express our opinions, discuss everything, but always having as a guide, the line, politics, and principles of the Party.
And in this direction, all of us must help each other, all of us must correct each other, if we find that in this or that direction there is a deviation, no matter how small. So the issue is that if the Party’s line is properly implemented, if we stay loyal to the Party’s principles, the possibility of malicious elements and enemies acting freely and undetected is avoided. This is of great importance, this is a conclusion and a lesson that we must all draw from this bitter experience, but which in the end ended well, for the good of the Party, for the good of the People, for the good of Homeland of Socialism.
Now the court has said its word and we have to say our word. If you have any questions to ask friend Aran or friend Rrapi, ask them. For two weeks in a row, these friends have been asking questions of others, criminals, enemies. They got tired, but my opinion is that they did a good job as our justice should be. You stood, unmasked, and exposed the face of these enemies. Both trials were not easy. Those were difficult trials because they were political trials. Here the point was not only to prove the crime, but also to unmask their views, concepts, and traitorous line as agents and spies.
Here, you are not dealing with people who were political and ideological opponents of the Party, but you are dealing with spies, with people who acted according to the suggestions that came to them, who received orders from others to do this or that action, giving you also said how they would do it. That is, these were simple tools in the hands of the enemies. These four condemned to death have prayed for the pardon of life. Now what do you say, do we watch one by one or all together?!
FRIEND RITA MARKO: All together. We agree with the decision.
COMRADE FAIK ÇINAJ: The opinion is that apart from these four, the other punishments were a little milder, starting with Fiqrete Shehu, Mihallaq Ziçishti, Nesti Nase, Ali Çeno, etc. Now an ordinary spy is sentenced to 10 years in prison, maybe I’m wrong but it seems like a little to me. I am also of the opinion, I have that opinion. This is not to be discussed because it is not within our competence but………!
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: Apart from these four who have been sentenced to death, for the others we do not have the competence to discuss and we cannot discuss, but we only need to keep one thing in mind. I think that by giving these decisions, the court generally acted correctly, because things must be seen in all their complexity. When you have to judge a criminal like Kadri Hazbiu, and next to this criminal you also judge a barber like Xhavit Ismailaga or Ali Çenon, you will make a difference. I think that these are the reasons that influenced the court that gave such punishments, that it occurs to me that if only Ali Çeno was tried; there is a risk that the court would give him the maximum punishment that the law provides.
COMRADE ARANIT ÇELA: If you tried each of them separately, the court might give them the death penalty. When judged in groups, this is because someone benefits from something.
COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: Regarding Fiqrete, there were opinions and everyone agreed that she too could be sentenced to death, but it seems that the members of the court took into account her attitude in the trial. If she had also been sentenced to death, I think that we here at the Presidium would have raised some other argument, but not that she is a woman, etc., although the court may also be allowed this reasoning. However, Fiqreti is the most hated witch in the entire national history, since we have never had such a woman in our national history. We think that the fellows of the court judged him correctly. Fiqreti could have been sentenced to death, but, for the reasons we mentioned, the court members judged him rightly.
Mihallaq Ziçishti is also a participant in these crimes, but we shoot one brother, so they become two brothers. In addition, it should be kept in mind that in the trial, both Fiqreti and Mihallaqi helped the trial and showed a degree of remorse, but we do not know how much they repented. Not only that, but have they told them all?! We don’t know this for sure either. There may still be things they haven’t told him. However, in the trial, they showed a certain degree of remorse, and the trial, I think, took it into account and should have taken it into account. You can also punish others more severely. Memorie.al
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