Metush Krasniqi, an activist of the movement for the liberation of Kosovo and national unity, was born in Dajkoc, Kamenica. He completed normal school in Gjakovë and graduated from the Faculty of Law in Prishtina in 1976. He worked as a teacher and school principal in Rogaçica in Kamenica and in Studençan in Skopje, later becoming a referent in the Technical High School in Pristina and the administration of the Kosovo Railways in Fushë-Kosovo. In 1944, he joined the ranks of the Albanian National Democratic Movement (LNDSH) and was a collaborator of Halim Spahi, Marije Shllaku, and Gjon Serreqi. In 1950, he founded an illegal organization that spread to Anamorava, the Presheva Valley, Kumanovo, and Skopje. He was arrested in 1956, but due to a lack of evidence, he was released. In 1958, he was arrested for the second time and sentenced to 18 years in prison as the leader of the illegal organization. After the Plenum of Briones in 1966, he was released and continued his political activity to coordinate patriotic and democratic forces for national unification. He was one of the inspirers and organizers of the 1968 demonstrations in Prishtina and Gjilan. In 1977, he founded the National Liberation Movement of Kosovo and the Albanian territories of Yugoslavia, aiming to liberate Albanian lands in Yugoslavia and unite them with Albania. The organization extended its network to all Albanian areas in Yugoslavia, and he made connections with the Albanian state and the Ustashe Movement in Croatia, which had significant support in the United States. He was one of the initiators of the 1981 demonstrations and was arrested, spending 8 months in solitary confinement in Gjilan prison. In 1982, at his insistence, all illegal groups operating in Albanian territories in Yugoslavia united into a single movement. Though he was a staunch anti-communist, he cooperated with all political currents in the interest of national unity. He was arrested for the last time in November 1985 and, despite being brutally tortured for six consecutive months, he did not betray his network of over 500 accomplices. Due to his unwavering attitude during investigations and in prison, he was regarded as the “Legend of Albanian Resistance” by his collaborators. He passed away in 1986. (In the photo: Metush Krasniqi)
Text: Encyclopedic Dictionary of Kosovo – Vol. I , Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo, Prishtina, 2018, page 877-878.
Photo: © https://sq.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metush_Krasniqi
Graphic processing: AHCF
