By Dashnor Kaloçi

A full 35 years ago, at the end of December 1991 and the beginning of January 1992, when the communist regime of Ramiz Ali was going through its agony, the small town of Laç (today Kurbin Municipality), with its surroundings, were involved in some unprecedented riots. On a day and hour previously announced, large warehouses, shops, offices, stables and other premises of state enterprises and institutions were attacked, looted, destroyed and burned. For several days in a row in that city, flames and smoke filled the sky, and there were no shortage of victims. The only one that escaped without being robbed at that time in that city was the branch of the State Bank, whose money and part of the documentation were escaped in the late hours of that night, to the city of Kruja.

Regarding those tragic events that have not yet faded from the memory of the inhabitants of that city, we know the former director of that bank, Divin Abazaj (Xhevitaj), who was able to save the branch he had been running for 25 years.

Mr. Divin, did you have information that the Laç Bank would be attacked?

Throughout those days, various rumors circulated in Laç, saying that the large warehouses of Commerce, State Reserves, Municipal, Railway, Goods Park, Chemical-Metallurgical Combine, and many other national enterprises that existed in the Laç region at that time would be attacked in our city and in Mamurras.

Along with these, it was said that the branch of the State Bank, where I was the director, would also be attacked. All those words were spoken openly everywhere and what at first seemed like a rumor turned out to be true, because on the very day and hour that had been talked about for days, they were attacked and robbed by large crowds of people.

How do you remember the event when your bank branch was attacked?

That event, if I'm not mistaken, occurred at the end of December 1991, or the beginning of January 1992, when the country was governed by the Stability Government headed by Ylli Bufi. After rumors spread that our bank's branch would also be attacked, I informed the Laç police station, telling them to take measures to protect it.

In addition, in two or three days I evaded the largest part of the money that we had in the bank at that time and left there only 11 million new lekë, which was the minimum possible for its functioning. Considering those words as a rumor, I did not notify the Directorate of the State Bank in Tirana, since no one could even think of such a thing happening. Where it had happened until that time that a bank was attacked, it seemed crazy to even think about it.

But as I said above, on the day and hour announced, the attack on all the warehouses, offices and shops began at the same time. I remember that day as if it were one of the coldest days the city of Laç had ever seen. The temperatures were several degrees below zero and there was a frost that had not been seen for years, which added to the gloom of that day. The attack on the warehouses and shops began there at around 6.30 in the evening.

As soon as I heard the noises coming from the Trade and Machinery Spare Parts warehouses, which were only a few meters from the building where I lived, I immediately got dressed and before I went out I called the police to take measures to protect the bank. I hurriedly headed to the bank and all my employees, whom I had called, immediately arrived. In front of our bank branch and next to it, where the Trade and Municipal stores and premises were located, there was a large crowd of hundreds of people who were looting everything they found there.

But at the bank, were there any attempts by the crowd to break in?

There too, a large crowd had gathered ready to attack, but there was some reluctance, as it were, because our branch was secured with bars that would take time and resources to destroy. Together with some police officers who were there, I called on the crowd not to approach, saying: Which of you would take it upon yourself to enter here and distribute the money that is inside. But the crowd would not listen to our calls, and the pressure kept increasing.

A large crowd of people stood in front of the bank throwing stones at its windows and from behind the crowd automatic rifle fire was fired into the air, pressuring us to leave. After this, the crowd approached the bank door and tried several times to open it with crowbars, but they failed and were repelled several times by police intervention.

How much money was in the bank that night and what happened next?

There was only 11 million new lek in the bank, but they were nothing compared to the credit documentation, which was estimated at hundreds of millions of new lek. If that documentation with the state and private loans that our branch had given were damaged, that bank could no longer function. I was ready to give the 11 million lek that we had there, just to save the documentation. Around 11:00, I called the head of the Crimes Department of the Laç Police, Arben Dashi, and asked him to help me get the money out of Laç, so that we could tell people that there was no money there.

Beni, (as he was called by the fans in Laç, since he was also a footballer with the “Industrial” team, a model man and officer, who was honored and respected by the whole city), proved to be very willing and at 24.00 he arrived there with seven police officers and a small SUV. At that hour, the calm had somewhat returned, but there were people on the streets again and a scoundrel was walking near our bank. A cashier and I opened the safes and, together with Arben Dashi, we started filling the bags with money, without counting them at all. Along with the money, I took with me the documents showing the state of the money the bank had.

As soon as we tied the necks of the 11 bags, we headed towards the Laç Police region and there we waited to find another vehicle because that old car could not go all the way to Krujë. While we waited, Arben Dashi did the act of a professional police officer. He drove an empty car all the way to Fushë-Krujë, to test the road to see if it would be attacked by robber gangs.

Meanwhile, we loaded the bags of money into a fire truck and set off for Kruja, just as the other truck that had set off empty returned and told us that the road was not too bad. Before leaving, Arben Dashi ordered the police to stand on the bags of money and they could only let them go if they were dead. So I, the cashier, and 10 police officers traveled to Kruja, standing on the bags of money, and arrived at the Internal Affairs Branch of that city at around 1:30 am.

There they gave us a room to secure the money and at around 6:00 in the morning, the head of the account of the Bank of Kruja, Fatmir Seseri, arrived, who was going to take the money in delivery. We counted it and the money came out exactly as it was written in the bank's documentation statement of the last day. After that, the money was sent to the Bank of Kruja without any problems, because unlike Laçi and Mamurrasi, where the flames were in the sky, that city was completely calm.

Did you notify your Directorate at the State Bank in Tirana about the action you took?

As soon as I arrived in Laç by car, I contacted my bosses in Tirana by phone, to whom I informed them that I would not open the bank for an indefinite period. They were surprised and thought I was joking and did not want to believe it, as I told them that it had happened. Although surprisingly I had pressure from Tirana to open the bank, I opened it only after 15 days, when the extremely difficult situation from which we had escaped without being affected by it had calmed down somewhat.

Abazaj: "A sector manager of the Mamurrasi Farm accused, at the Committee meeting: 'You in power, you yourself organized the attacks on warehouses and shops'"

The difficult situation that the city of Laç and its surroundings went through in December '91, when all the warehouses and shops in that region were looted, was analyzed at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Kruja district, from which that rather problematic city depended at that time. The director of the Laç Bank branch, Divin Abazaj, also participated in that meeting, who recalls: "In that analysis that was done in Kruja, the amount of damage that had been caused by the riots that occurred in Laç was also reported, which was about 200 million new lek.

During the debates that were taking place about how and why those events had happened, a young man with a veterinary profession, who was responsible for the livestock sector at the Mamurras Farm, stood up in great revolt. He addressed the senior officials of the Executive Committee and the Party of the district, with these words: 'What more do you want to know, I am telling you that that night these people (he mentioned their names and surnames), armed, members of the Rapid Intervention Forces in Ndroja, came to me at the calf stables in Mamurras and threatened me, telling me to leave immediately, because that night that complex would be attacked to be robbed and according to them I had to leave, so as not to risk my life.

So I'm telling you the names, you tell us who caused those riots. The attacks and robberies on warehouses, stalls and shops were discussed a few days ago and you didn't take any measures to protect them. You in power have organized all of that yourself and don't ask anyone else.' After his words, that formal meeting was closed and the real causes of those riots were never found or punished."/ Memorie.al