The “Revolta e Spaçi” was the biggest revolt against the regime by political convicts in the notorious Spaçi prison. The revolt started on May 21, as a protest against the orders and rules established in the prison. Then it took on bigger proportions, opposing the communist regime itself. It started as a small incident between a convict and the warden of the Spaçi prison. However, it ended with the revolt of almost all the prisoners, causing a strong shock to the security institutions and the leaders of the communist government. For about 3 days, on the terrace of the prison, 100 prisoners started throwing slogans “Here is death and freedom!”, “The people are with us”, “Long live free Albania”, “You are the murderers”. They were quickly surrounded by over 4,500 military troops from Shkodra and Tirana, who opened fire from all sides. Until the moment when the revolt was violently suppressed, the convicts united and strongly opposed to surrender, physically confronting the guards of the Spaç prison, the 303rd battalion, and the security and military forces that arrived from Tirana. As a result, and as a sign of reprisal, four of the main leaders of the revolt (Pal Gjergj Zefi, Dervish Bejko, Skënder Haja, Hajri Pashaj) were sentenced to death, while around 82 others were re-sentenced to long prison terms. (In the photo: View from the prison of Spaç.)
Text: National Museum “House with leaves”, Tirana
Photo: © National Museum “House with leaves”, Tirana
Graphic processing: AHCF
