Azem Hajdari

Hajdari's signature

Tomb of Azem Hajdari in the Heroes Cemetery in Tirana

Azem Shpend Hajdari ( ˈazɛm hajdaˈɾi [ listen ^{? / I} ], born March 11, 1963 in Bajram Curr ; † September 12, 1998 in Tirana ) was one of the most important leaders of the Albanian student protests in 1990/91, which led to the overthrow of the communist regime. He later became a co-founder and politician of the Democratic Party of Albania (PD) , the first independent party in Albania after the fall of the communist- socialist dictatorship. Together with Sali Berisha , he symbolizes the beginning of the democratic era in Albania. On September 12, 1998, he was killed in an assassination attempt against him .

On October 2nd, 1998 Hajdari was posthumously awarded honorary citizenship of Albania's capital Tirana and in 2007 with the Order of Skanderbeg by the head of state Bamir Topi .

Early life

Azem Hajdari went to elementary school in his hometown Bajram Curr in northern Albania and then studied philosophy at the University of Tirana , where he successfully graduated in 1993. In 1995 he also completed his law studies there and one year later he finished defense and security policy at the George C. Marshall Study Center in Garmisch-Partenkirchen .

He was married to Fatmira Hajdari, with whom he had three children: Kirardi, Rudina and Azem Junior, who was only born four months after the death of his father.

Political career

Azem Hajdari was elected as a candidate of the Democratic Party in the Albanian Parliament in the first four parliamentary elections after the democratic transition ( 1991 , 1992, 1996 and 1997) . In June 1997 he became chairman of the parliamentary defense commission.

Between December 1990 and February 1991 he was party leader of the Democrats until he was replaced by his long-time friend Sali Berisha, who also comes from the Tropoja region .

Between 1995 and 1998 Hajdari was President of KS Vllaznia Shkodra .

Attempted assassinations

Azem Hajdari was threatened with death from the very beginning of his days as a leader of the student movement.

Shots in Parliament

On September 18, 1997, Hajdari became involved in a dispute with Socialist MP Gafur Mazreku , whereupon Mazreku opened fire on Hajdari with a pistol, seriously injuring him. He was then admitted to the capital's university hospital. Mazreku was later caught by police and sentenced on December 17 to 11 years in prison. He himself testified that he acted for purely personal reasons. However, Hajdari accuses him of having acted politically.

Tropoja

On June 4, 1998, Hajdari and other party colleagues (including Jozefina Topalli ) were lured into an ambush with their car, where they were caught in a hail of bullets. Bardhyl Pollo, former managing director of the Albanian broadcaster , suffered minor injuries.

Deadly attack

On September 12, 1998, Hajdari was shot dead by three men waiting for him while he was leaving the Democratic headquarters in Tirana. His bodyguard Besim Çera was also fatally injured; the second, Zenel Neza, survived the assassination seriously injured. One of the assassins also died later in a hospital as a result of a gunshot wound.

Hajdari was shot in the chest and abdomen, causing fatal injuries.

After Hajdari's death

Monument to Hajdari in the “student city” in Tirana

The death of Azem Hajdari sparked bloody protests throughout Albania, some of which were accompanied by deaths. Sali Berisha accused the socialists and their leaders of the attack and called for the justice of all guilty parties. In February 2002, five people, including one of the assassins, were charged with murder by a court in Tirana and sentenced to long imprisonment.

Honor

At the site of the attack, a memorial commemorates Hajdari and his bodyguard Çera. In other cities in Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia , schools, streets, cultural institutions etc. were named after Azem Hajdari. Hajdari is an idol for many supporters of the Democratic Party.

Others

In 2007 Saimir Kumbaro made a documentary about Hajdari, which is called Azem, ti je gjallë ("Azem, you live").

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1. ↑ New York Times newspaper article on Azem Hajdari. New York Times , accessed December 14, 2011 (English, 16 articles in all). 
2. ↑ Greg Moses: Who Killed Azem Hajdari? Dissident Voice, July 24, 2008, accessed December 14, 2011 . 
3. ↑ Fatmira Hajdari: Pse duhet rihetuar vrasja e Azemit. (No longer available online.) Shekulli , September 13, 2010, archived from the original on March 24, 2012 ; Retrieved December 14, 2011 (Albanian, interview with the late Azem Hajdari's wife with the Shekulli newspaper ). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ DP Deputy Azem Hajdari shot by firearm. Albanian Telegraphic Agency, September 18, 1997, accessed December 14, 2011 . 
5. ↑ ^{a b} Jozefina Topalli : On the political assassinations, arrests and persecution of the opposition by the neo-communist regime in Albania. October 26, 1998, accessed December 14, 2011 . 
6. ↑ Suela Furriku: "Azem, according ti gjallë" një për movie heroin. Arkiva Mediatike Shqiptare, September 11, 2008, accessed December 14, 2011 (Albanian).