Kadri Hazbiu

Kadri Hazbiu (15 July 1922 – 10 September 1983) was an Albanian politician of the Albanian Party of Labour (PPSh).

Biography

Early life Kadri Hazbiu was born in Mavrovë, Vlorë District, on 15 July 1922. By that time he joined the Second World War from 1942 to 1944, affiliated with the communist and anti-fascist side of the National Liberation Movement.

Career After the founding of the People's Republic of Albania on 11 January 1946, he was elected Colonel Chief of Section of Counterintelligence in the Directorate for External Security. Later Hazbiu graduated from the Moscow Higher Military Command School in Moscow. and was a member of it until 15 October 1982. He was the chief of the Directorate of State Security (the Sigurimi), Albania's secret police, and Deputy Internal Affairs Minister from 1950 to 1954.

On 23 July 1954, he was the successor to Mehmet Shehu (who became prime minister) as the Minister of Internal Affairs. He held this post for almost 26 years, until 26 April 1980. He was also the chief supervisor of the Secret Service Sigurimi, which was subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 1957, he was promoted to Lieutenant General.

During the 4th Congress of PPSh in February 1961, Hazbiu became the candidate-member of the Politburo of the Party of Labour of Albania. Hazbiu's appointment as Defense Minister was surprising, but followed a direct decision taken by the First Secretary of the PPSh Enver Hoxha, and F. Shehu's incapability to compare with major Defense Department Deputy Ministers' experience (Llambi Gegprifti, Nazar Berberi, Maliq Sadushi, or Veli Llakaj wanted to run for the post).

Demise On 15 October 1982, Hazbiu was arrested and lost his membership in the People's Assembly and in the Politburo. On 23 November 1982, he was officially replaced by Prokop Murra as Minister of Defence, the first civilian to hold such a post in the People's Republic of Albania.

Shortly after Hazbiu's trial (and about a year after Mehmet Shehu's suicide on 17 December 1981) numerous other Party and State figures were arrested and convicted in 1983 in secret trials, including Shehu's wife Fiqret and his sons, former Internal Affairs Minister Feçor Shehu, who had long worked in management positions in the intelligence Sigurimi, most recently as its director, other senior intelligence officials, Foreign Minister Nesti Nase, and the Minister of Health Llambi Ziçishti. All were under Shehu's line of influence, allegedly having plotted a coup d'etat for the liquidation of Hoxha.

Incriminating statements were extracted under torture. Nevertheless, Hazbiu and Feçor Shehu could not be forced to admit the absurd accusations. Several defendants were executed, and the others were sentenced to long prison terms.

Hazbiu was executed on 15 September 1983 in Linzë near Tirana. Twelve years after his death, his body was exhumed and buried at the family's request on 4 November 1995 in Selitë near Tirana.

Personal life Hazbiu was married and had 5 children. His youngest, Agron (born in 1959), became a title-winning footballer with Dinamo Tirana in 1980 under the name Agron Dautaj. His career ended in 1982 when his father was arrested and Agron was interned in Kurbnesh with the other family members. His death on 28 January 1989 in one of the Kurbnesh mines was deemed a suicide by the communist rulers.