The Fushë-Arrëz tragedy, another work of the PS leaders
Relatives of the victims speak
Dear readers, yesterday we were in F. Arrez and met the relatives of the victims of this town who, on 9 December 1991, were burned alive in the town warehouse.
The tragic warning in '91 by the former socialist Prime Minister Ylli Bufi, that Albania has only 6 days’ worth of bread, was fulfilled in the flames of that building with 40 human lives.
People asked for bread and freedom and found death amid the black flames of that December night.
Only 4 years have passed, while the law on genocide gives these families the right to accuse the activity of the communist crime, which they are denouncing, because it has pushed Albania into a burned-out shell.
As the interviewees themselves say, this was a work of the State Security and the PS, which today has no moral right to ask for votes again.
Criminals before the court. This is the message of the interviews we publish below.
Halit Kopani, by profession a shopkeeper. His two sisters were burned: Mishire Kopani, 24, and Sejie Kopani, 27. Recalling the event at the time he says: “At that time I was a driver in the Public Order Branch. The situation was much worse, earlier on, but no measures were taken to prevent it. At that time the firefighters were even putting out the sawmill shavings. To save [people], windows were broken; no measures were taken.
“RD” Do you think the event is connected to the warnings of former Prime Minister Bufi, at the government meeting that Albania has only 6 days of bread?
M. Kopani: Without any doubt, Ylli Bufi’s statement had a deadly impact on the poor people. People were terrified by the thought that they would die of hunger and rushed the warehouses. Bufi’s expression was a warning of death by hunger. That is why my two sisters were also burned, trying to take some food; we were poor like most of the citizens here in F. Arrez. My sisters were beautiful, I loved them very much and they did not deserve to die because the communists were losing power.
“RD”: Do you think the PS in the district had a hand in this matter?
M. Kopani: Of course it did; the burning was organized. They wanted to burn us all before losing their 50-year chair.
“RD”: Do you think it is time to file the relevant complaint?
M. Kopani: Certainly, the dust from my burned things does not let me rest; I will denounce the authors of the crime, who, as they have dealt with my sisters in the fire, are also being dealt with daily by the fruits.
Pjerdë Ndoci, farmer [?], 24 years old. His two sisters were burned, Mira Ndoci, 20, and Vjollca Ndoci, 27.
Says: “There were 8 of us in one family; now my family has been struck by disaster, nothing will bring back those victims, who were dead when...”
“RD” What do you know about the event?
P. Prenja: What happened devastated my brother’s family. The bride and two or three others from the house. While my brother’s bones have been turned to ash and dust. Others spread the news that everyone would die of hunger. Those who had television heard only one senior man in Tirana say that this is what he had said.
So my brother was burned too.
Curse those who left our house in ruins (crying)
Petrit Gjoka, 25, has lost his brother Arjan Gjoka, 19, a worker.
“RD” What do you remember about the event?
P. Gjoka: It was nighttime. It was cold. The two of us left the house. He slipped away from me. The neighborhood companions were over there. I waited for him, called him, shouted loudly, but by then I could see nothing, only a large blazing mass[?] that would never come again. It was a horror I cannot describe. It seemed to me that everything was burning with that world... Everything happened in so few minutes...
“RD”: Do you think this tragedy was a work of the State Security?
P. Gjoka: Absolutely. Otherwise everyone would have been saved. The fire would have been extinguished from the start. The police would have intervened. The police, the Order, the NFP, carry out the orders coming from above; in Fushë-Arrëz a tragedy was needed before they handed over power. My brother paid for it. He was not only my brother, but also a friend. Every time I pass near that building, it seems to me that I see my brother in flames. Meanwhile the criminals are outside.
“RD” Do you intend to file a complaint, since now there is also the Parliament’s law “on genocide”?
P. Gjoka: We will file the complaint immediately. Communist crimes must not be silenced. The law on genocide is right and gives us hope that the event will be brought to light.
Preng Perkola, 49, my wife’s brother, Mark Gjoni, 21, was burned.
“RD”: Do you remember how the event happened?
P. Perkola: Yes. Mark went to buy bread. Meanwhile in the market it was being said that the warehouse had opened; he went and stayed there. At home we were waiting for him to eat bread, while he never came back alive; it was a horror for our family.
“RD” Will you make a complaint?
P. Perkola: Starting tomorrow I will make the complaint. Those who made young Mark were criminals. They wanted us to keep growing anyway. But we will not forgive them. We will accuse them over the unsold bread, which drove people one after another to death by hunger. We are alert. You say that we will be left without bread and the bread is thrown into the fire. We have no wealth, we have many children in school.
Kole Hamza, 23, his brother Bislim Hamza, 26, a worker, and his cousin’s son Behar Guri, a student, were burned.
“RD” Do you think the tragedy in question was a work of the State Security and the PS?
K. Hamza: Justice will say its own; the statistics speak, but the way the trap of the crime was prepared shows that the crime was prepared by a criminal hand. I am not with any party, but I think the hunger statement led people to rush into the warehouses, while the servants of the dictatorship allowed the calamity to happen in our city.
“RD”: Will you make a complaint?
K. Hamza: Immediately. The law on genocide seems right to me for everyone; it allows criminals to be punished whoever they may be, especially the top ones who have had power!
Eduard Doda, a third-year high school student, lost his father and his aunt, 35. He is now the head of the household.
“RD” Whom do you intend to accuse in your complaint?
E. Doda: The whole pyramid of the state at the time, from Tirana to Pukë. The communist dictatorship. Those who, with their statements, stirred unrest and insecurity among the people on 9 December 1991. The law on genocide gives us the full right to denounce the perpetrators. Those who killed my father and aunt by destroying our family.
“RD” Yet today the PS is seeking to return to power.
E. Doda: It has no right to ask for our votes. Where my father died, smoke is still coming out. That is an accusation against the dictatorship.
Zef Ndoci, whose brother Ndoc Ndoci, 28, was burned.
“RD” How does your brother’s burning live on in the family?
Z. Ndoci: My old mother can never find peace, not knowing who killed her son in the flower of his youth. She mourns and curses the dictatorship every day, which left these irreparable wounds in our souls. She demands that the authors of the tragedy be brought before the court.
“RD” Will you make a complaint?
Z. Ndoci: We will denounce the authors of the crime; the spirit of my brother, burned alive, rests under the earth with bitterness that goes every day to the ruins where his book remained! Those individuals who built that crime with all means through telepathy, propaganda, police, under the control of the State Security...[?]
P. Mrenda. We will make the complaint immediately. Now the law gives us the possibility. Those who killed my brother will not escape the judgment of our state. They do not escape the judgment of justice. We believe that this collective death will be brought to light.
Mike Ndue Sala, 31, her husband, 31, has died. She now lives with two children; she works as a cleaner and earns 3,500 lek, while for her husband she receives a pension of 1,300 lek. She lives in very difficult economic conditions.
“RD” Will you file the complaint?
M. Sala: I am alone. I have no husband; my husband died and I am concerned with raising the two children. I will leave the complaint to the state to make it, to represent me too, but I will ask the state to increase the pension for cases of men who have left wives and children in the street. I have many troubles. Flora Kavaja, 40, her daughter, 40, was burned [?]
“RD” How did the event happen?
F. Kaneti[?]: My husband and I were not at home. Our daughter had gone to buy bread, then had taken bread, the [something] of the warehouse, and had gone there. When we returned we found our daughter burned. She had been reduced to ashes. I do not even recognize my own daughter. Great pain. She was beautiful. They killed her alive. We ask that the case be clarified to the end by Albanian justice.
Gjyste Marku, 38, her husband was burned; she now lives with two children and has economic problems even though she receives a salary of 3,000 lek.
“RD” Will you make a complaint?
Gj. Marku: Yes, I will seek to the end those who killed my husband and left my children orphans; we trust that the democratic state will shed light on this matter.
Tereze Gjoka: 50 years old, her 19-year-old son was burned.
“RD” Do you remember how the event happened?
T. Gjoka: Yes. The boy had received the call-up papers for the army. He was to leave on 12 January. But on 9 December he died in the warehouse. Very soon afterwards my husband also died. His heart stopped from grief.
“RD” Will you make a complaint?
T. Gjoka: In the name of all the relatives of the victims, I ask that this crime be investigated to the end. Because our justice is very wounded. We have great trust in President Sali Berisha, who will help shed light on this matter.
When did the tragedy happen?
P. Mrenda: I remember they had seen Z. Bufi on television. The news that the government has no bread for the people alarmed everyone. The news spread that they would attack the warehouses. And they did. I don’t know how. My brother went and died there. I wait every night for him to come, but he no longer comes... the monsters took his life...
“RD” Will you make a complaint?
M. Prenda: I will make the complaint immediately. Now the law gives us the possibility. Those who killed my brother will not escape the judgment of our state. They will not escape the judgment of its justice. We believe that this collective death will be brought to light.
Prepared by Mujo Bçupapaj