Metush Krasniqi, activist of the movement for the liberation of Kosovo and for national unity, passed away. He was born in Dajkoc, Kamenica, in 1928. He completed the Normal School in Gjakovë and the Faculty of Law, in Pristina (1976). He worked as a teacher and school principal in Rogaçicë in Kamenica and in Studençan in Skopje, then a referent in the Technical High School in Pristina and in the administration of the Kosovo Railways in Fushë-Kosovë. Since 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 the illegal organization, which spread to Anamorava, Preshevë, Kumanovë and Skopje. In 1956 he was arrested, but due to lack of evidence he was released. In 1958, he was arrested for the second time and sentenced to 18 years of imprisonment, as the leader of the illegal organization. After Plenumit të Brioneve (1966) he was released from prison. He continued his political activity for the coordination of patriotic and democratic forces for national unification. He was one of the inspirers and organizers of the 1968 demonstrations in Prishtinë and Gjilan. In 1977, he formed the organization National Liberation Movement of Kosovo and the Albanian Suburbs of Yugoslavia, which aimed at the liberation of the Albanian lands in Yugoslavia and their union with Albania. The organization extended the network to all Albanian spaces in Yugoslavia. He made connections with the Albanian state and the Ustashe Movement in Croatia, which was very widespread in the United States of America. He was one of the initiators of the organization of the 1981 demonstrations. He was arrested and held in solitary confinement for 8 months in Gjilan prison. In 1982, at his insistence, all the illegal groups operating in the Albanian spaces in Yugoslavia were united in a single movement. He was a staunch anti-communist, but he cooperated with all political currents in the interest of national unity. He was arrested for the last time in November 1985. He did not hand over his network of over 500 accomplices, although he was brutally tortured for 6 consecutive months, until it was determined that he was going to die. For his invincible attitude in investigations, in prisons and in activities, he was called the “Legend of Albanian resistance” by his collaborators. He passed away in 1986. (In the photo: Metush Krasniqi)
Text: The encyclopedic dictionary of Kosovo – Vol. I , Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo, Prishtina, 2018, page 877-878.
Photo: © http://orashqiptare.blogspot.com/2013/06/metush-krasniqi.html
Graphic processing: AHCF
