The

People's Republic of Albania The People's Socialist Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika Popullore Socialiste e Shqipërisë, links=no) was the Marxist–Leninist one party state that existed in Albania from 1946 to 1992 (the official name of the country was the People's R ...

executed 22

intellectuals An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking Critical thinking is the analysis of available facts, evidence, observations, and arguments to form a judgement. The subject is complex; several different definitions exist, ...

without trial on 26 February 1951, as ordered by

Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 unt ...

. They were accused of bombing the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

embassy in Tirana. The victims were 21 males and one female. One day earlier, Jonuz Kaceli was killed while accused of the same crime. It was the first time the Agitation and Propaganda law was used.

Background

Arrests

The 22 individuals were arrested and put in prison between 20 and 22 February 1951, then

executed by firing squad Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French ''fusil'', rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are us ...

on 26 February. The pretext was the explosion of a small amount of dynamite in the Soviet Embassy in Tirana on 19 February, for which the arrested persons were accused of. On 20 February, the Communist leadership assembled and decided on counter-measures. Present were

, Tuk Jakova, Mehmet Shehu, Bedri Spahiu, Hysni Kapo, Gogo Nushi, Spiro Koleka, Beqir Balluku and Liri Belishova. The arrests were made based on death lists prepared in advance by the Ministry of Interior. The charge, as prepared and signed by Military Prosecutor Siri Çarçani and dated 25 February 1951, was the same for all 22 victims and read: The same Çarçani admitted later that when he wrote the charge he was completely unaware of any investigation having ever been performed. In addition, the charge was never communicated to any of the victims. Furthermore, a trial was never held.

Execution

One of the arrested intellectuals, Jonuz Kaceli, was killed a day earlier (25 February), by Mehmet Shehu after Kaceli punched and injured Shehu in the face after a long interrogation on high treason accusations by Shehu and Rasim Dedja. Kaceli was thrown out of a window, head-first from the second floor, in the pretense that he had committed suicide. The 22 victims were executed on 26 February 1951, six days after the first arrest was made. All of the victims were shot based on a government decree issued by the Ministry of the Interior on the same day of the killings. The Minister of Interior that issued the decree was Omer Nishani. Manol Konomi, at the time minister of justice, did not want to sign the death sentences without approval. They were executed at midnight, near the Beshiri bridge, 15 km from Tirana, and were buried in a common grave, bound together. On 26 February 1951 the other victims were shot by an execution squad. The head of the police during that time, Sali Ormëni, was killed one week after the bombing. On 5 March 1951 the executions were approved by the military court of Communist Albania; that is eight days after the suspects were executed.

Aftermath and legacy

It was later found out that the bombing was actually orchestrated by Hysen Llulla and Qazim Laçi. In 1991 all victims were declared innocent, and posthumously awarded the order ''"Honor of the Nation" Decoration (Albania), Honor of the State'' by president Bamir Topi. Their bodies were found bound with barbed wire in a joint mass grave on the Erzen river edge.

Victims

*Ali Qoraliu, politician *Anton Delhysa, builder *Gjon Temali, pharmaceut *Fadil Dizdari, librarian *Gafurr Jegeni, officer *Haki Kodra, businessman *Hekuran Troka, businessman * Jonuz Kaceli, businessman *Luka Rašković, Yugoslav businessman *Manush Peshkëpia, poet *Mehmet Ali Shkupi, thermal engineer *Myftar Jegeni, officer *Niko Lezo, chemist *Pandeli Nova, businessman *Petro Konomi, telegraphist *Pjerrin Guraziu, economist *Qemal Kasaruho, economist *Reiz Selfo, businessman *Sabiha Kasimati, biologist *Tefik Shehu, economist and jurist *Thoma Katundi, engineer *Zyhdi Herri, journalist

External links

Short documentary about the massacre
''English''
Special about Massacre of 1951 in Albania

Special on TV Klan

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albania 1951 in Albania Mass murder in 1951 People's Socialist Republic of Albania Political and cultural purges Massacres in Albania by communist regime Enver Hoxha Albania–Soviet Union relations Cold War history of Albania Anti-intellectualism February 1951 events in Europe