Pal Shtufi has shared his account of one of the episodes that affected him most deeply in his relationship with Riza Salihu, following the killings of Jusuf Gërvalla, Bardhosh Gërvalla and Kadri Zeka.
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Speaking on “Dosjet,” a segment of the “Debat Plus” program, Shtufi said he learned of the killings of the three activists in the evening, through television. Several days later, Riza Salihu showed up at his home, around 700 kilometers away.
Initially, Shtufi believed that Salihu’s visit was intended to express his condolences. However, during their conversation, he realized that the purpose of the visit was different.
“After two or three days—I believe it was not the fourth day—Rizahu came to us. It was a major surprise. He had traveled some 700 kilometers. We thought he had come to offer his condolences, because there could be no other reason. And, as I also describe in the book, no, he had come for something else. The police had been looking for him, and he said, ‘I have no alibi,’” Shtufi recounted.
He said that at the time he did not even know the meaning of the word “alibi” and asked Salihu to explain it to him.
According to Shtufi’s account, Salihu said that he had been staying at his apartment but had no way to prove it. For this reason, his visit to Shtufi was intended to serve as evidence that he had been at their home.
“I had been at my apartment, but I couldn’t provide evidence that I had been there. So, in other words, I had to say that I had been here with you. We had to say, to testify, that yes, he had been here,” Shtufi said.
Shtufi said he refused to become involved in the request, while the situation inside the house became tense.
During the conversation, according to Shtufi, Riza Salihu also gave differing accounts of what had happened to Jusuf Gërvalla, Bardhosh Gërvalla and Kadri Zeka.
“He said, no, he hasn’t been killed. The Gestapo—that is, Hitler’s secret service—he said, had staged a scene as though they had been killed, but in fact they had taken them to other services, changed their identities and things like that; they had not been killed,” he recounted.
But later, according to Shtufi, Salihu changed his version, saying that the three activists had been killed.
“He said, yes, they were killed because the UDBA itself killed them,” Shtufi said, relaying the statement he attributed to Salihu.
This inconsistency prompted Shtufi to ask why Salihu needed an alibi if the three men had not been killed.
“So why, I asked, then? He said, well, they had done their job; they were no longer needed. I said, but what had they done, brother?” Shtufi recounted.
Today, Shtufi believes that Salihu may have feared that he and the other people would report him to the police. However, he stressed that at the time he did not understand the significance of the request for an alibi.
“I didn’t even know how important that alibi was. It never crossed my mind to call [the police],” he said.
After this, Salihu left the house. Shtufi said he accompanied him to a small train station.
“I even accompanied him to a small train station, and he left,” Shtufi said.
He added that Salihu was arrested that same day or the following day. About a year later, Salihu called him again.
“A year later, he called again and said: ‘The Gestapo’s papers burned in your hands. I got out of prison,’” Shtufi recounted.
Shtufi said that this incident had significantly influenced the way he later assessed Riza Salihu.
In the same interview, Shtufi also stated that Salihu had described Jusuf Gërvalla as a UDBA collaborator. According to Salihu’s claim, the Yugoslav secret service had sent Gërvalla to the West with the aim of destroying the Albanian underground movement.
Nevertheless, Shtufi said he was not convinced that Riza Salihu himself had been in the service of the UDBA and added that he did not want to draw a definitive conclusion on the matter.
