Rrahman Morina (; 1943 – 12 October 1990) was a Yugoslav police officer and

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

politician. A

Kosovo Albanian The Albanians of Kosovo ( sq, Shqiptarët e Kosovës, ), also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovar/Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars/Kosovans, constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo. Kosovo Albanians belong to the ethnic Albanian sub-gr ...

, he is remembered as being an opponent of Albanian separatism.

Early career

Morina had a career as an agent of the

Ministry of Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

, and later on as a party official in the League of Communists of Kosovo. He rose through the ranks and was in 1981 appointed as Kosovo's interior minister, and thereby held the top law enforcement office in the province. In March the same year, in the wake of the 1981 riots in Kosovo, he called in the national police to quell the uprising, without informing or consulting the provincial government. This act contributed to the resignation of Kosovan party boss

Mahmut Bakalli Mahmut Bakalli (19 January 1936 – 14 April 2006) was a Kosovar Albanian politician. Bakalli began his political career in the youth organization of the League of Communists of Kosovo, eventually becoming its leader in 1961. In 1967, he became ...

, as the latter did not prove himself accountable enough in the eyes of the government in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

Leadership in Kosovo

In 1988, Morina was installed as leader of the Kosovan wing of the

League of Communists of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, mk, Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na komunistite na Jugoslavija known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, sl, Komunistična partija Jugoslavije mk ...

due to the Anti-bureaucratic revolution in support of the policies of

Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević (, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the president of Serbia within Yugoslavia from 1989 to 1997 (originally the Socialist Republic of Serbia, a constituent republic of ...

, and the subsequent removal of

Azem Vllasi Azem Vllasi (born 23 December 1948) is a senior Kosovo Albanian politician and lawyer. Early years Vllasi was born in Robovac, Kosovska Kamenica, Yugoslavia, in today's Kosovo. In his youth and student years, Vllasi chaired a number of youth o ...

and

Kaqusha Jashari Kaqusha Jashari (' Fejzullahu; born 16 August 1946) is a Kosovo Albanian politician and engineer by profession. She is a member of the Assembly of Kosovo on the Democratic Party of Kosovo list since 2007. From 1986 until November 1988, she and ...

from the Kosovan party leadership, as he was one of very few Albanian opponents of Kosovo Albanian separatism. Morina came to be seen as a loyalist of the Serbian leader

, although Milošević originally despised Morina. Years earlier, Milošević approached the Yugoslavian president

Lazar Mojsov Lazar Mojsov ( mk, Лазар Мојсов; 19 December 1920 – 25 August 2011) was a Macedonian journalist, communist politician and diplomat from SFR Yugoslavia. Biography Mojsov received his doctoral degree from the University of Belgrade' ...

, furiously demanding Morina's removal from the Kosovan government (and the rest of it). Milošević even threatened to resign from his office as leader of the

League of Communists of Serbia , logo = , colorcode = , leader = President of the League of Communists of Serbia , predecessor = Provincial Committee for Serbia of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia , merged = , successor = SPS , ...

, if Morina was not ousted. In 1989 Morina resigned from Kosovo's political structures during the

miners' strike Miners' strikes are when miners conduct strike actions. See also * List of strikes References {{Reflist Miners A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are tw ...

Death

He died in 1990, at the age of 47, under suspicious circumstances in

Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians and ...

, while attending the constituent convention of the Kosovan branch of the

Socialist Party of Serbia The Socialist Party of Serbia ( sr, Социјалистичка партија Србије, Socijalistička partija Srbije, SPS) is a political party in Serbia. It is led by Ivica Dačić. It was founded in 1990 as the direct successor to t ...

. The official death cause was labelled a heart attack, but persistent rumors says he was actually poisoned at the convention.

Personal life

He was married to Bratislava "Buba" Morina, a

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

, government minister, and Commissioner for Refugees of Serbia.

References

Bibliography

Raif Dizdarević Raif Dizdarević (born 9 December 1926) is a Bosnian politician who served as Yugoslavia's first Bosniak president of the Presidency from 1988 until 1989. He participated in the armed resistance as a Yugoslav Partisan during World War II. Didzar ...

, ''Od smrti Tita do smrti Jugoslavije'' (Sarajevo: Svjetlost, 2000) *Viktor Meier, ''Yugoslavia - A History of its Demise'' (London: Routledge, 1999) {{DEFAULTSORT:Morina, Rrahman 1943 births 1990 deaths Politicians from Peja Yugoslav police chiefs League of Communists of Kosovo politicians Central Committee of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia members Socialist Party of Serbia politicians Kosovo Albanians Kosovan politicians Death conspiracy theories Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery