Havzi Nela

Havzi Nela
Havzi Nela
Born	(1934-02-20) February 20, 1934 Kollovoz, Kukës County, Albania
Died	Kukës, Kukës County, Albania
Nationality	Albanian
Occupation	Poet
Known for	Poems against the Albanian communist regime

Death penalty signed by Communist Albania by Ramiz Alia and Kristaq Rama, the father of the today's opposition leader Edi Rama.

Havzi Nela (20 February 1934–10 Augustus 1988) was Albanian dissident poet. Havzi Nela was born on February 20, 1934 in the village Kollovoz district of Kukes. He managed to finish both elementary and high school while living in extreme poverty. Since high school he expressed objections against the injustice 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. He 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 in to 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 across the border into Kosovo on April 26, 1967. While crossing the boarder he wrote on a piece of paper; "Goodbye, homeland, I am leaving, but with a broaken 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 Prizeren, Kosova. 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 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. The charges were betrayal and desertion of his country. A serious offence under the regime of communist leader Enver Hoxha. His 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. She did not agree to this and accepted her punishment. Havzi Nela was imprisoned in the prison of Burrel initially then transferred to Spaq-Rreshen prison.

On August 8, 1975, eight years were added to his sentence due to his involvement and organisation responsabilitied for an uprising which took place within the prison. The uprising was directed against the governments regime and appalling conditions at the prison. On December 19, 1986, he was released from prison. He was incarcerated in 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 senteced 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. The offitials 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 hung publically. On August 10, 1988, at 02:00 am, he was executed. After being exposed all day on August 10, 1988, at midnight communist terrorists 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. He stayed on his feet 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 Kukes. With the presidential decree of the President of the Republic of Albania, Sali Berisha, Havzi Nela was given the title "Martyr of Democracy." In commemorating the 75th anniversary of the birth of Havzi Nela, prominent writer Mark Twain 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 oppression.