Taken from Kujto.al

Almost a month had passed since the discovery of the channel through which some prisoners of Camp No. 4 in Tirana had planned to escape. On July 17, 1954, the detainees were before the Supreme Military Court, which was to issue a verdict. One of them, the former political prisoner, Kolë Verri, has told what decisions were given that day for the detainees.

Kolë Pepa (Verri) is one of the prisoners who were arrested in June 1954 for opening the escape tunnel in Camp No. 4 in Tirana.

He was initially arrested on July 31, 1953, and sentenced to 25 years in prison by the Tirana Military Court. Less than a year later, he would be re-sentenced with the group of prisoners who were accused of opening a tunnel through which they wanted to escape from Camp No. 4, located near the “leaders’ block” in Tirana. Fatbardha Saraçi Mulleti included his story in the book “Pain 5”, from which this part is excerpted:

I was arrested on July 31, 1953, and the Military Court in Tirana sentenced me to 25 years in prison for agitation and propaganda, while a year later I was convicted of attempting to escape from Camp No. 4 in Tirana, with a group of 20 people, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

By the Supreme Military Court, from this group, seven people were sentenced to death, the others were sentenced to 20-25 years in prison.

Of the seven who were sentenced to death, only three were spared:

Nasuf Gjilaj
Niko Mali
Faith Latifi
While Isuf Agolli, Zyhdi Mancaku, Mark Zefi, Abdullah Bajrami were shot.

The others were sentenced to various prison terms, these were:

1.Ali Çollaku

2. Xhemal Suta

3. Mulita Dog

4. Hack the Box

5.Kole Pepa (Northern)

These five were sentenced to 20 years in prison and 5 years of deprivation of civil rights.

While:

1.Emin Bakalli

2. Xhemal Limani

3. Hazis Xhika

Abdyl Kërluku, were sentenced to 25 years in prison.
While:

1.Haki Zeqiri

2.Feim Ymeri

for illegally crossing the Albanian state they were sentenced to 5 years in prison, plus previous sentences.

These were the members of the group that attempted to break the siege of Camp No. 4 in Tirana, using an underground tunnel.

The Judicial Council of the Military College of the Supreme Court: headed by Major Mustaf Qilimi and Major Leni Dimoshi and Major Faik Minarolli, assisted by the Chief Secretary Murat Qazimi (lieutenant), while Nexhip Labinoti and Petrit Starova were state attorneys. We were not given the right to request a defense attorney, because they wanted to finish the work with our group as soon as possible. This is very easy to prove, because within one day all the formalities were completed and seven people were sentenced to death and twelve others to five, fifteen, twenty-five years of imprisonment. The sentence began with the date of the trial in 1954.

The communist trials were just a formality, because the sentences were determined at the conclusion of the investigation, by officers of the Ministry of the Interior. After the disappearance of the four people who were killed in the most barbaric, inhumane way, the rest of us were sent to the dungeons of the Burrel prison. It was the rule: before the prisoners from the districts of the country arrived, the dungeons were emptied and the newcomers were settled in them, who would remain there until the arrival of others from other prisons in the country.

The same was done for us, who were placed two in each dungeon. The treatment of the prisoners of Burrel was different from the others. The interior of the prison was lit with kerosene lamps, which were kept burning all night long, in each room as well as in the prison corridors. The water for consumption for the prisoners was taken from a well, which was in the middle of the courtyard, which was opened especially for the prisoners, which had no side walls. This was used for drinking and washing clothes and for the kitchen, which was in the inner corner of the courtyard. I stayed there for two years. All of us who were young, began to be distributed among the labor camps, which were numerous throughout the country such as: mines, reclamation and construction.

Note: Taken from the book "Pain 5 - The Ordeal of Children in Communist Concentration Camps" by author Fatbardha Saraçi Mulleti, published by Fiorentia, Shkodër 2023.

Main image: Photo of the tunnel entrance, published by researcher Kastriot Dervishi.