Lenka Çuko (born 8 July 1938) is an Albanian former politician of the

Albanian Party of Labour The Party of Labour of Albania ( sq, Partia e Punës e Shqipërisë, PPSh), sometimes referred to as the Albanian Workers' Party (AWP), was the ruling and sole legal party of Albania during the communist period (1945–1991). It was founded o ...

(PPSh).

Biography

Çuko was born in

Lushnjë Lushnjë (; in Lushnje's own dialect: ''Lushnje'' ; sq-definite, Lushnja) is a city and Municipalities of Albania, municipality in west-central Albania. It is located in the County of Fier. The total population is 83,659 (2011 census), in a to ...

to a family of partial Aromanian origins. In 1970, she was elected first-deputy of the People's Assembly (Albanian: ''Kuvendi Popullor''). She was in member of the parliament from the seventh to the eleventh legislative term which ended in 1991. Moreover, at the 6th Party Congress in November 1971, she was elected member of the Central Committee (CC) of the PPSh, making it one of the few female members of this body. In addition, she worked for several years in the 1st Secretary of the PPSh in

Lushnjë District Lushnjë District () was one of the 36 districts of Albania, which were dissolved in July 2000 and replaced by 12 newly created counties. It had a population of 144,351 in 2001, and an area of . It was in the west of the country and 80 km so ...

. At the 7th Congress of the Labour Party in November 1976, she was elected candidate-member to the Politburo of the Party. She was the first woman on the politburo since the dismissal of

Liri Belishova Liri Belishova (14 October 1926 – 23 April 2018) was an Albanian politician. She was a member of the Politburo of the Party of Labour of Albania and an important political figure in Albania between 1944 and 1960. Life Born in the village of ...

in September 1960. Women comprised about 20% of the Central Committee of the Party in 1981. At the 8th Congress of the Labour Party in November 1981, she succeeded as member of the Politburo of the Labour Party and remained within this supreme governing body of the party until December 1990. On 25 January 1983, she was also secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and also exercised this function until December 1990. As a Central Committee secretary, she was responsible for the party organization. In 1993, a special court was brought against Çuko, and nine other former senior officials of the Party:

Muho Asllani Muho Asllani (born 1937) is a former Albanian politician of the Albanian Party of Labour (PPSh). He was a member of the Politburo, a representative in the Albanian Parliament for many years, First Secretary of Party in several districts, and mem ...

Besnik Bekteshi Besnik Bekteshi (born 1941) is a former Albanian politician of the Albanian Party of Labour (PPSh). He has served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry of Communist Albania. Biography Bekteshi was born on 11 August 1941 in Shkodër. He ...

Foto Çami Foto Çami (born 4 October 1925, date of death unknown) was an Albanian academic and politician of Albanian Party of Labour (PPSh). Biography Çami was born on 4 October 1925 in the village of Labovë of Gjirokastër District in Albania. He joined ...

Hajredin Çeliku Hajredin Çeliku (born May 4th 1927 - died June 2005) was a former Albanian politician of the Albanian Party of Labour. He was a member of the Albanian Parliament, Politburo of the Party of Labour of Albania, and served as member of the Cabinet of A ...

Vangjel Çërrava Vangjel Çërrava (born 1941) is an Albanian politician of the Albanian Party of Labour (PPSh). He was member of the Albanian Parliament, Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Albania, and for a short time member of the Politburo of the Party. Bio ...

Llambi Gegprifti Llambi Gegprifti (born 14 February 1942, in Pogradec) is a former Albanian politician and mayor of Tirana (precisely Chairman of the Executive Committee of the People's Council of Tirana District) from 1986 through 1987 and 1989 through 1990. He w ...

Qirjako Mihali Qirjako Mihali (13 May 1929 - 7 April 2009) was an Albanian politician of the Albanian Party of Labour. He was a candidate-member of the Politburo of the Party of Labour of Albania, Minister of Finance, and member of the Albanian Parliament. Bio ...

Pali Miska Pali Miska (19 May 1931 – September 2009) was an Albanian politician of the Communist Era. He served as Chairman of the Assembly of the Republic of Albania from 22 November 1982 to 19 February 1987. Miska was first as a party functionary in ...

, and

Prokop Murra Prokop Murra (24 November 1921 – 9 September 2005) was an Albanian politician of the Albanian Party of Labour (PPSh). Early life Murra was born on 24 November 1921 in Tirana, and studied economics. He joined the Albanian Communist Party in 194 ...

. They were accused of "abuse of funds". The court (in Tirana) gave the following sentences: Mihali and Gegprifti eight years, Miska and Çuko each seven years, Çami, Çeliku and Bekteshi of six years, and Çërrava, Murra and Asllani five years. In July 1996, another charge for "crimes against humanity" was brought against Çuko,

, and Irakli Vero and others, all high rank officials who had served as first secretary in local government bodies. In September 1996, the court sentenced to 20 years Gegprifti, Vero to 16 years, and Çuko to 15 years' imprisonment. The six other defendants also received prison sentences of between 15 and 20 years. The

Supreme Court of Albania Supreme may refer to: Entertainment * Supreme (character), a comic book superhero * ''Supreme'' (film), a 2016 Telugu film * Supreme (producer), hip-hop record producer * "Supreme" (song), a 2000 song by Robbie Williams * The Supremes, Motown-e ...

confirmed these convictions in November 1996.ATA NEWS: ''Supreme Court Does Not Change Decision for Genocide-3 Low Iinstance Trial'' (5 November 1996)
/ref> All were briefly released after the turmoils of 1997.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuko, Lenka 1938 births Living people People from Lushnjë Labour Party of Albania politicians Members of the Politburo of the Labour Party of Albania Candidate members of the Politburo of the Labour Party of Albania Members of the Parliament of Albania Women members of the Parliament of Albania Communism in Albania 20th-century Albanian women politicians Prisoners and detainees of Albania