Havzi Nela (20 February 1934 – 10 August 1988) was an Albanian dissident poet, born in the village of Kollovoz in the district of Kukës. He managed to finish both elementary and high school while living in extreme poverty. In high school he began to express objections against what he perceived as "injustices" that, according to him, were created by the communist regime. After this he began studies at the Higher Pedagogical Institute of Shkodra (Luigj Gurakuqi University today), but was expelled due to seemilngy rebellious and controversial beliefs. After much difficulty, he found a job as an elementary school teacher at Plani i Bardhe, a small village in the district of Mat, but was forced to leave the village due to suspicious activity. Suspicion arose after students began reading his poetry. He then went on to study at the Higher Pedagogical Institute of Shkodra by correspondence. He worked as a teacher in different villages such as Kruma, Lojme and Shishtavec until 1967, when he moved to Topojan. Topojan was where the most dramatic events of the poet and his family began.
Havzi Nela was constantly under surveillance and was often taken into custody. He was restricted and censored heavily in what he wrote, but also where and how he could live. After his students read the poem "Shko dallandyshe" (Go Swallow) written by Filip Shiroka, Havzi Nela and his wife, Lavdie, were under threat of prosecution from the government due to its controversial content. They risked their lives by taking the journey over the border into Kosovo, Yugoslavia on April 26, 1967. While crossing the frontier he wrote on a piece of paper; "Goodbye, homeland, I am leaving, but with a broken heart", (Lamtumire atdhe i dashur, se po iki zemërplasur). He placed the piece of paper in the branch of a hazel tree. It is widely believed that the purpose of this was to declare an undying love for the country and its people however expressing disdain towards its dictatorship. A tragic fate would soon follow in Kosovo. He was captured just beyond the border together with his wife. They were arrested and imprisoned in Prizren, Kosovo. On May 6, 1967, the Yugoslavian government agreed on an exchange turning Havzi Nela and Lavdie Nela in for several Yugoslavian prisoners held in Albania. The exchange took place at the Morina border crossing point.
On May 22, 1967, the poet was tried and sentenced by the courts of Kukes county to fifteen years in prison, on charges of betrayal and desertion of his country, serious offences under the regime of communist leader Enver Hoxha. His wife Lavdie Nela was sentenced to ten years in prison. She was offered the possibility of a shorter sentence if she would forsake and divorce her husband, but did not agree to this and accepted her punishment. Havzi Nela was imprisoned in the prison of Burrel initially then transferred to Spaç-Rrëshen prison.
On August 8, 1975, eight years were added to Nela's sentence due to his involvement in organizing and leading an uprising which took place within the prison, directed against the government regime and the appalling conditions at the prison. On December 19, 1986, he was finally released from prison, but was strictly confined to the village of Arren. When news came of his dying mother less than a year later, on October 12, 1987 he left Arren to go and see her one last time. This was discovered by the government immediately and Havzi Nela was once again arrested and soon after sentenced to death by hanging.
On June 24, 1988, the Supreme Court of Albania's communist judges consisting of Fehmi Abdiu, Vili and Fatmira Laskaj Robo rejected Lavdie Nela's appeal against her husband's death sentence. Those behind this felt it was a good opportunity to make an example of Havzi Nela and spread terror throughout the nation. They built a contraption in the middle of the town of Kukes where he would be hanged publicly. The death penalty was signed by Ramiz Alia and Kristaq Rama,[1][2] the father of Albania's current Prime Minister, Edi Rama[3] On August 10, 1988, at 02:00 am, he was executed.[4][5] After being exposed all day on August 10, 1988, at midnight communist officials took his body and threw it vertically in a hole created by removal of a wooden pole at an undisclosed location. He was deprived of the opportunity to reach out to all the dead and to be laid to rest. His body remained buried at an undisclosed location for five years and ten days, until August 20, 1993. After numerous attempts by the democratic government of Albania, this was the day that it finally became possible to search the land which was covered with rocks and bushes near Kolsh village, two kilometers away from Kukës. With the presidential decree of the President of the Republic of Albania, Sali Berisha, Havzi Nela was given the title "Martyr of Democracy". In 2009, in marking the 75th anniversary of the birth of Havzi Nela, prominent writer Ismail Kadare wrote: "The poet Havzi Nela is a bell that still rings for Albanian society. Not to listen to it is to continue to be trampled on by the foot of the oppressor."
Ja si Kristaq Rama vendosi për varjen në litar të poetit Havzi Nela
Jump up ^ Varja e Havzi Nelës, zbardhet vendimin dhe firma e Kristaq Ramës
Jump up ^ Socialist Party of Albania Leadership
Jump up ^ "News – KLOSI – Poeti disident Havzi Nela". KLOSI. 2009-02-25. Retrieved 2011-12-12.
Jump up ^ Varja e Havzi Nelës, zbardhet vendimin dhe firma e Kristaq Ramës
Havzi Nela was constantly under surveillance and was often taken into custody. He was restricted and censored heavily in what he wrote, but also where and how he could live. After his students read the poem "Shko dallandyshe" (Go Swallow) written by Filip Shiroka, Havzi Nela and his wife, Lavdie, were under threat of prosecution from the government due to its controversial content. They risked their lives by taking the journey over the border into Kosovo, Yugoslavia on April 26, 1967. While crossing the frontier he wrote on a piece of paper; "Goodbye, homeland, I am leaving, but with a broken heart", (Lamtumire atdhe i dashur, se po iki zemërplasur). He placed the piece of paper in the branch of a hazel tree. It is widely believed that the purpose of this was to declare an undying love for the country and its people however expressing disdain towards its dictatorship. A tragic fate would soon follow in Kosovo. He was captured just beyond the border together with his wife. They were arrested and imprisoned in Prizren, Kosovo. On May 6, 1967, the Yugoslavian government agreed on an exchange turning Havzi Nela and Lavdie Nela in for several Yugoslavian prisoners held in Albania. The exchange took place at the Morina border crossing point.
On May 22, 1967, the poet was tried and sentenced by the courts of Kukes county to fifteen years in prison, on charges of betrayal and desertion of his country, serious offences under the regime of communist leader Enver Hoxha. His wife Lavdie Nela was sentenced to ten years in prison. She was offered the possibility of a shorter sentence if she would forsake and divorce her husband, but did not agree to this and accepted her punishment. Havzi Nela was imprisoned in the prison of Burrel initially then transferred to Spaç-Rrëshen prison.
On August 8, 1975, eight years were added to Nela's sentence due to his involvement in organizing and leading an uprising which took place within the prison, directed against the government regime and the appalling conditions at the prison. On December 19, 1986, he was finally released from prison, but was strictly confined to the village of Arren. When news came of his dying mother less than a year later, on October 12, 1987 he left Arren to go and see her one last time. This was discovered by the government immediately and Havzi Nela was once again arrested and soon after sentenced to death by hanging.
On June 24, 1988, the Supreme Court of Albania's communist judges consisting of Fehmi Abdiu, Vili and Fatmira Laskaj Robo rejected Lavdie Nela's appeal against her husband's death sentence. Those behind this felt it was a good opportunity to make an example of Havzi Nela and spread terror throughout the nation. They built a contraption in the middle of the town of Kukes where he would be hanged publicly. The death penalty was signed by Ramiz Alia and Kristaq Rama,[1][2] the father of Albania's current Prime Minister, Edi Rama[3] On August 10, 1988, at 02:00 am, he was executed.[4][5] After being exposed all day on August 10, 1988, at midnight communist officials took his body and threw it vertically in a hole created by removal of a wooden pole at an undisclosed location. He was deprived of the opportunity to reach out to all the dead and to be laid to rest. His body remained buried at an undisclosed location for five years and ten days, until August 20, 1993. After numerous attempts by the democratic government of Albania, this was the day that it finally became possible to search the land which was covered with rocks and bushes near Kolsh village, two kilometers away from Kukës. With the presidential decree of the President of the Republic of Albania, Sali Berisha, Havzi Nela was given the title "Martyr of Democracy". In 2009, in marking the 75th anniversary of the birth of Havzi Nela, prominent writer Ismail Kadare wrote: "The poet Havzi Nela is a bell that still rings for Albanian society. Not to listen to it is to continue to be trampled on by the foot of the oppressor."
Ja si Kristaq Rama vendosi për varjen në litar të poetit Havzi Nela
Jump up ^ Varja e Havzi Nelës, zbardhet vendimin dhe firma e Kristaq Ramës
Jump up ^ Socialist Party of Albania Leadership
Jump up ^ "News – KLOSI – Poeti disident Havzi Nela". KLOSI. 2009-02-25. Retrieved 2011-12-12.
Jump up ^ Varja e Havzi Nelës, zbardhet vendimin dhe firma e Kristaq Ramës
Deputeti i Partisë Demokratike, Aldo Bumçi, publikoi dje dokumentin, i cili vërteton pjesëmarrjen e të atit të Edi Ramës në dënimin me varje të poetit të njohur Havzi Nela. Bumçi i kërkoi Ramës të kërkojë falje për firmën që i ati i tij, Kristaq Rama, ka vendosur për dënimin me vdekje të poetit vetëm për faktin, se ai kishte shkruar poezi që nuk i pëlqenin regjimit. Deputeti Bumçi e cilësoi një vendim xhelatësh firmosjen nga Ramiz Alia dhe Kristaq Rama, për dënimin me varje të poetit të njohur më datë 10/8/1988. Disidenti dhe poeti Havzi Nela mori një dënim maksimal për fajin e vetëm, se në vargjet e tij kërkonte të drejtat e njeriut. "Këtë vendim po ja nisim dhe Kryetarit të Partisë Socialiste, Edi Rama në Selinë e Partisë Socialiste. Ky është vetëm një nga vendimet kriminale të atit tënd biologjik, të cilin po ta dërgojmë me shpresën që do të nxisë sadopak për të dënuar këtë akt xhelatësh kundër intelektualëve shqiptarë. Për ti kërkuar falje publike familjes së Havzi Nelës, qytetarëve të Kukësit dhe të mbarë Shqipërisë për këtë akt kriminal të babait tënd biologjik", u shpreh deputeti Bumçi gjatë një konference për shtyp. Poeti Havzi Nela ka lindur më 1934 në Kollovoz të Kukësit. Ai ishte njëri nga ata njerëz që s'u pajtua asnjëherë me të keqen, që solli dhe po e sillte vazhdimisht regjimi komunist në Shqipëri gjatë viteve të sundimit të tij 50-vjeçar. Qysh në shkollë të mesme, u shfaqën kundërshtitë e tij të para ndaj padrejtësive të sistemit të kohës, nisi të formësohet dhe të marrë frymë ndjenja e rebelizmit ndaj padrejtësive të regjimit që po i ngrinte në sistem. Pasi kishte kryer Shkollën Pedagogjike në Shkodër, ai fillon punën në rrethin e Matit, por u bënë shkak disa vjersha që iu gjetën, të cilat siç duket ishin të "papëlqyera" për pushtetin dhe pushtetarët e asaj kohe dhe pushohet nga puna. Më 22 maj 1967 dënohet me l5 vjet heqje lirie dhe konfiskim të pasurisë, ndërsa bashkëshortja e tij me 10 vjet heqje lirie. Më 8 gusht 1975 ridënohet me 8 vjet heqje lirie. 19 dhjetor 1986 lirohet nga burgu. 12 tetor 1987 internohet në Arrën. 15 qershor arrestimi në katundin Brekijë. 15 qershor, ora 12 e mesditës nis procesi hetimor ndaj tij. 24 qershor 1988 - dënimi i katërt, ose dënimi fatal. 25 qershor - bën ankim pranë Kolegjit Penal të Gjykatës së Lartë. 16 korrik - Këshilli Gjyqësor i Kolegjit Penal të Gjykatës së Lartë, lë në fuqi vendimin e Gjykatës së Rrethit Kukës. 2 gusht - Presidiumi i Kuvendit Popullor miraton vendimin për ekzekutimin e Havzi Nelës. 10 gusht 1988, ora 3:30 pas mesnate - ekzekutimi me varje në Kukës, tek stacioni i autobuzëve. 10 gusht, ora 11:00 e paradites - trupi hiqet nga vendi i ekzekutimit. 11 gusht, ora l:00 pas mesnate - trupi futet në gropë.
