Prishtina, 26 August 2025
Honorable former political prisoners: Hydajet Hyseni, Gani Krasniqi, Selatin Novosella, Berat Luzha, Neriman Braha, and so many others who have gathered today on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the passing of our comrade, Azem Beqiri,
Honorable invalids and veterans of the Kosovo Liberation Army, family members of the martyrs, deputies of the Assembly of the Republic, colleagues from the Government, political activists, professors and academics, researchers and students,
This afternoon, we are gathered here at the Albanological Institute to mark the 20th anniversary of the death of Azem Beqiri, an activist and political prisoner, among the earliest in the groups and generations of political prisoners in Kosovo. Azem Beqiri could still have been among us today—we also have with us the esteemed Beqiri family—because he would have been 86 years old now, whereas he passed away prematurely at the age of 66, in 2005.
During the 20th century—the century of the Balkan wars, two world wars, the Cold War, and the wars in Yugoslavia that culminated in the genocide against the Albanian people in Kosovo in the spring of 1999—we Albanians endured an entire century filled with struggles and intensive movements for freedom. On this path, Albanians left without their will under Yugoslavia became victims of harsh dictatorial and fascist regimes, genocidal hegemonic regimes, against which they had to fight tirelessly in countless ways in order to achieve liberation and freedom.
Among those men and women who, through their dedication, upheld the struggle of Albanians for freedom, was Azem Beqiri, who at the age of 24 channeled his political will into the organization known as the Revolutionary Movement for the Unification of Albanians (LRBSH). This organization, LRBSH, was established in September 1963 by a group brought together by the then young journalist and writer Adem Demaçi, who also assumed its leadership. Azem was part of LRBSH from its founding. But rather than attempting to go through his entire political profile, I believe the best way is to read some excerpts from the indictment against him.
Azem Beqiri was arrested on 7 June 1964, 61 years ago. Two months later, on 15 August 1964, he was included in an indictment raised by the District Public Prosecutor’s Office in Prishtina, together with Adem Demaçi, Sabit Ratkoceri, Hazir Shala, Selahudin Daci, Abdyl Lahu, Ahmet Haxhiu, Xhafer Mahmutxhiku, Dibran Bajraktari, Sabri Novosella, Tefik Sahiti, and Nijazi Saraçogllu. All of them were charged under Articles 44, 145, 249, 250, and 251 of the Criminal Law of Yugoslavia.
Listed fifth in the indictment, it was written about him: “Azem Beqiri, a clerk from Prishtina, living at 19 ‘Svetozar Marković’ Street, born in 1939 in Dumnicë e Epërme, son of Adem and Sherife née Osmani, Albanian, citizen of the SFRY, married, without children, completed two classes of the Normal School, completed military service, not wealthy, not previously convicted, has been in investigative detention since 8 June 1964.”
The indictment stated that the accused, Azem Beqiri, in September 1963, after his connection with the accused Adem Demaçi, became a member of the illegal hostile organization in Prishtina, and at the same time took part in the formation of the illegal group in a secret meeting at Demaçi’s house. He then worked actively in its further expansion by recruiting other persons, speaking with six individuals including Vezir Ukaj and Faik Osmani, and undertook steps, with the help of the accused Xhafer Mahmutxhiku, to form the leadership of the illegal hostile group in Podujeva. He held many meetings with members of the illegal organization, participated in numerous meetings of the so-called high leadership of the illegal organization in Prishtina, maintained constant contact with Adem Demaçi, became a member of the illegal group in Prishtina, contributed money to the illegal organization (18,000 dinars), wrote the text of a verse for an Albanian flag, commissioned someone to raise that flag in the village of Letanc, and helped Vezir Ukaj to copy and multiply the Program of the illegal organization. In this way, he participated in forming a group of persons whose aim was to undertake what was then called a counterrevolutionary attack against the state and social order of the SFRY, against its territorial integrity, and to destroy the unity of the peoples of Yugoslavia. Thus, he committed the criminal act of conspiracy against the people and the state under Article 117, in connection with Articles 100 and 101 of the Criminal Law of the time.”
So, here is what was stated in the indictment against Azem Beqiri and the others at that time, which not only demonstrates their determination but also reveals the fear of the occupying regime, the authorities of that period, toward the Revolutionary Movement for the Unification of Albanians (LRBSH), led by Adem Demaçi, in which Azem Beqiri was very active.
Two weeks later, on 1 September 1964, the District Court in Prishtina found the 12 accused guilty, sentencing Azem Beqiri to 10 years in prison. Following an appeal for sentence reduction, on 5 February 1965 his sentence was reduced from 10 to 7 years. After three years, on 26 April 1968, following the fall of Ranković, the Supreme Court of Serbia overturned the 1964 decision of the District Court and sentenced Azem Beqiri to 3 years and 11 months of hard imprisonment.
Even after being released from prison, Azem Beqiri worked even harder than before. He always found ways of engaging and channels of communication for his political activity with his comrades. In the following decades, through hundreds of political trials, the Yugoslav regime dominated by Serbia imprisoned entire generations of our youth, and not only them—thousands and thousands of Albanians—until in the mid-1980s this persecution reached its peak, making Albanians in Yugoslavia the most persecuted ethnic community in all of Europe, politically prosecuted and imprisoned across the old continent.
According to some data, Albanians altogether spent 666 centuries in prison in former Yugoslavia. And precisely those who came out of the small prison into the big prison were the ones who later organized the breaking of the big prison—the liberation of Kosovo—until today, when we enjoy our Republic.
As I mentioned, I had the fortune to work for Uncle Adem as secretary in his office in Prishtina, when Adem Demaçi was the General Political Representative of the KLA. I came to know all of his comrades and the generation of activists and political prisoners through him. And Azem Beqiri was a man who never left Adem’s side—whether in the Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms, in the Parliamentary Party, later in the political representation of the KLA, and even after the war.
And Azem Beqiri, who continued his companionship and engagement with Uncle Adem Demaçi, could only be stopped by death, which took him prematurely in 2005. Being also one of you, a former political prisoner, and recognizing these facts about political activity, and especially the fear that the Serbo-Yugoslav authorities had of Azem Beqiri and LRBSH, I hope that today, together with you, we have renewed our memories and honors for Azem Beqiri.
May Azem Beqiri be remembered and honored, both by the generations who knew him and heard of him, and by history.
Thank you very much!
