In Tirana, Beqir Balluku, participant of the Anti-Fascist National Liberation War and leader of the formations of the Albanian National Liberation Army, Colonel General, Chief of the General Staff of the Army, Minister of Defense, Deputy Chairman of the Council of National Liberation was arrested, sentenced to death and shot . Ministers, member of the Central Committee and Political Bureau of the Labor Party of Albania. He was born in Tirana, in 1917. He completed his primary education and a few years at the technical school. After the occupation, he threw himself into anti-fascist activity. Commander of the guerrilla units of Tirana, commander of the Krujë-Ishëm detachment and commander of the battalion with the same name. With the formation of the III Assault Brigade, he was appointed its commissar for a short time, then commander of the II Assault Brigade. In the battles for the liberation of Korça, he was appointed commander of the Operational Headquarters of the II and IX Brigades and deputy commander of the I Assault Corps, then commissar of the III Corps. After the liberation, he was appointed commissar of the Army Rear Command and commander of the Korça Division. Minister of Defense (1953–1974); deputy of the People’s Assembly in all legislatures. He worked for the organization, modernization and training of the Albanian Army. He received high decorations for this activity. In the framework of the repressions undertaken in the army, in 1974 he was accused of being the main man responsible for the so-called “military coup”. He was arrested, sentenced to death and shot in November 1975. (In the photo: Beqir Balluku)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 1 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 172-173.
Photo: © https://www.executedtoday.com/2017/11/05/1974-beqir-balluku-albanian-minister-of-defence/
Graphic processing: AHCF
