Hafiz Sabri Koçi, a prominent cleric, head of the Muslim Community of Albania (1991–2004), was born in Orenjë in Librazhd. He received his early religious teachings in Shkodër, under Hafiz Muhamed Bekteshi, Hafiz Sabri Beg Buhati, and Sheh Qazim Hoxha. After 1939, he was appointed imam at the Luguçesmes Mosque in Shkodër, then at the White Mosque, and later in the Dudas neighborhood. In 1952, he became the imam at the “Rus I Vogel” Mosque and, shortly after, at the Old Mosque. Four years later, on May 23, 1956, he was appointed mufti of Kavajë. Shortly after, with the request of the believers of the “Rusi I Vogel” neighborhood, he was reappointed imam in Shkodër. He was arrested on June 4, 1966, and September 10 of the same year, with decision no. 34, the Shkodër District Court declared him guilty of “treason against the homeland at the preparatory stage” and “agitation and propaganda against the people’s power” and sentenced him to 22 years of imprisonment, confiscation of property, and loss of electoral rights for 5 years. He was released on October 22, 1986. On November 16, 1990, he was among the initiators of the opening of the Lead Mosque, where it was decided to establish the Albanian Islamic Community, headquartered in Shkodër, which was approved on January 23, 1991. On February 14 of the same year, he was elected chairman of the Council of the Albanian Muslim Community. (In the photo: Hafiz Sabri Koçi)
Text: Encyclopedic dictionary of victims of communist terror – Vol. IV , “West Print”, Institute for the Study of Crimes and Consequences of Communism, Tirana, 2015, page 232.
Photo: © https://www.kmsh.al/hafiz-sabri-koci/
Graphic processing: AHCF
