FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
On a Sunday in January 1925, the newspaper "Indipendenca Shqiptare" announced on its front page: "Zija Dibra was killed. Former captain Zija Dibra, another minister in the cabinet of Pandeli Evangjeli, accused of Bolshevik issues, while being interned in Berat, passing Harizaj town of Kavaja District, tried to escape and escape from the hands of an aspirant, who accompanied him to Berat. So, being mounted on the horse, he drove it forward with all his might. The aspirant shouted at him a couple of times to stop, but after he didn't listen, he shot him in the head and knocked him off his horse.
Zija Dibra, a well-known figure of Albanian politics at the beginning of the 20th century, was killed on the same day when the republic was proclaimed in Tirana with President Ahmet Zogun already triumphantly returned from Yugoslavia. Only a few believed the official version of the murder. Zija Dibra was known as a staunch opponent of Ahmet Zogu, he himself had participated as a soldier in the uprising led by Hasan Prishtina in 1921.
In 1923, he was part of an anti-zogist organization founded in Vienna by Aqif Pashë Elbasani. In June 1924, he fought with a gun in his hand, alongside the insurgents, then he was stationed in the Shkodra garrison. In 1924, Noli had sent Zija Dibra to convince Elez Isufi not to join Zogu.
Dibra managed to fill Elez Isufi's mind, reminding the Dibras of their long-standing enmity with the Serbs and also using a large amount of money. Bird's people had all the reasons to get rid of him, but not only that he was a fanatic...!
A big question mark?
Like many other politicians involved in the events of June 1924, Zija Dibra also went into exile. On January 23, 1925, he was seen traveling on a truck with Durres license plates, together with Sulejman Delvina and Sejfi Vllamas, the former former Minister of Foreign Affairs, while the latter, a member of the High Council.
Vllamasi remembers asking him if he would go with them across the sea, or if he would stay in Albania. "No, I will not move, for my life, Myfit bey Libohova has given me a guarantee." So Zija Dibra did not go to Italy like hundreds of others, but ends up, it is not known why, in Vlora. Myfit bey Libohova, was marching in the South, to come to the aid of Zog's forces, which were coming down from the North.
It was here that Zija Dibra was arrested and accompanied by a gendarme, left for Berat, where he would be held in exile. What exactly happened on that cold day in the vicinity of Harizaj i Kavaja, only the "nameless" gendarme knew.
Kosovar leaders and Ahmet Zogu
Zija Dibra, was very connected with leading Kosovar figures, such as; Bajram Currin, Hasan Pristina, Bedri Pejanin, Hoxha Kadrina, with those who made up the heart of the "National Defense of Kosovo" Committee based in Shkodër.
Five years before the murder of Zija Dibra, in 1920, the Italian poet and politician, Gabriele D'Annuncio, organized a meeting in Trieste of all the nationalist organizations whose peoples had remained under Serbian rule, already in the newly created Yugoslavia. .
According to Eqrem bey Vlora, the representative of the Kosovars and the Shkodra Committee in this meeting was the "old patriot Beqir Vokshi". In this meeting, D'Annuncio promised the Kosovars weapons, in order for them to start the "liberation of Kosovo", attacking from the side of Kukës.
The gunboat arrived in Shengjin in the summer of 1920. At that time, the Vlora War was at its peak. The Yugoslav army got ready for intervention on the side of Buna. Ahmet Zogu, Minister of the Interior at the time, was against the unloading of D'Annuncio's weapons in Albania.
He, but not only, thought that an attack by the Kosovars on Yugoslavia would put fragile Albania in open conflict with Yugoslavia, a war which, of course, Albania was not ready to face at that time, but how it seems even later.
To solve the case, Zogu sends Sejfi Vllamas and Xhemal Naip to Shkodër. They also had 20 thousand gold francs with them. "... In the late hours - recalls Vllamasi - we met with Bajram Curri, to convince him, as he was more reasonable than the others. We discussed the issue, from every point of view, but we could not convince Curri, as he was influenced by Bedri Pejani, who was in favor of disarmament.
That same night, we went to the prefecture, where the assistant prefect Sulçe Bushati was waiting for us, with the commander of the Gendarmerie, Malo Bushati, to find out the end of the talks. After all attempts at negotiation failed, military measures were decided upon. Malo Bushati, under the command of Captain Hasan Bushati, sends a force of gendarmes to Shengjin, to forcefully stop the discharge of weapons..."!
The first strong rift between the Kosovar leaders and Ahmet Zogut had occurred.
The chain of murders
Zija Dibra served as liaison between the Kosovar leaders and the Macedonian nationalist leaders of VMRO, Teodor Aleksandrov and Petar Çaulev. In 1924, the Yugoslav consul in Shkodër had reported several times to Belgrade about plans to attack Yugoslavia. Çaulev, had met Hasan Pristina, while Aleksandrov, Bajram Currin.
Zija Dibra was even accused by the Yugoslavs of being the organizer of a Noli-Aleksandrov meeting, but this meeting was denied by the official Tirana. Within a few months, Yugoslav agents managed to kill the leaders of VMRO, Aleksandrov, in August 1924 and Çaulevi, in December 1924, as they had followed him to Milan, after his return from Albania.
Another anti-Yugoslav nationalist, who had connections with the Kosovars of Shkodra, was the Montenegrin Marko Raspopovic. Together with two other Montenegrins, he had participated, even with a weapon in hand, in the events of June 1924. At the beginning of 1925, the Montenegrins were still in Shkodër. A witness of the time, Asim Kopliku, confessed:
"I was called to the Yugoslav consulate in Shkodra. I presented myself to the Yugoslav consul, who asked me to hand over Raspopovic, together with the two Montenegrins, whom I had under my command. The consul said that the three Montenegrins were dangerous enemies of Yugoslavia and Albania...! In the barracks, I had a long talk with Marko Raspopovic.
He spoke Albanian well. I told him the danger that threatened him and we agreed that I would take him out of Shkodra, escort him to Bërdica and then go to Shengjin and jump to Italy. But in Shengji, Marko Raspopovici was caught. The Montenegrin trio was handed over to Ceno bey Kryeziu, who hanged Marko Raspopovici in Kruma"!
A few months later, Ceno bey Kryeziu would declare to a Belgrade newspaper: "I have captured and I have killed your enemy, Marko Raspopovic." I have killed Zija Dibra, Bajram Curri, Luigj Gurakuqi, for your peace and ours..."! Was it an honest statement, or just an excited boast?! The story for once is not as clear as we would like.
In 1925, the "National Defense of Kosovo" Committee practically ceased to exist. Some of the leaders were killed, the rest hid in emigration./ Memorie.al
Lini një Përgjigje