Mahmut Bakalli (19 January 1936 – 14 April 2006) was a

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

politician. Bakalli began his political career in the youth organization of the

League of Communists of Kosovo The League of Communists of Kosovo ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Savez komunista Kosova, Савез комуниста Косова, sh-Latn-Cyrl, SKK, СКК, label=none, separator=/; ) was the Kosovo branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the sole ...

, eventually becoming its leader in 1961. In 1967, he became head of the party's Prishtina chapter. As he rose through the ranks, he was elected to the Central Committee of the party's Serbian chapter, and to the Presidium of the

League of Communists of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, was the founding and ruling party of SFR Yugoslavia. It was formed in 1919 as the main communist opposition party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats ...

's Central Committee. Bakalli led the Communist Party in Kosovo during the late 1970s and early 1980s, but resigned after disagreeing with the way the 1981 protests by ethnic Albanian students were handled by Kosovo's own police, headed by

Rahman Morina Rrahman Morina (; 1943 – 12 October 1990) was a Yugoslav police officer and communist politician. As a Kosovo Albanian, he is remembered as being an opponent of Albanian separatism. Early career Morina had a career as an agent of the Minist ...

. Bakalli then spent two years under house arrest, before being expelled from the party. He was after that allowed to work in the province's Science Association until retirement, but was forced out when

Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...

increased Serbian control over Kosovo in the late 1980s. He was a member of the

Assembly of Kosovo The Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Скупштина Републике Косово, Skupština Republike Kosovo) or the Kuvendi, is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Kosovo that is directly elected by the peo ...

from 2001. He also worked as an adviser to prime minister

Agim Çeku Agim Çeku (, born 29 October 1960) is an ethnic Albanian politician from Kosovo, the former Kosovo Security Force, minister of Security Forces in Kosovo and formerly the Prime Minister of Kosovo, prime minister. Of military background, he was a ...

. He graduated from the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...

's Faculty of Political Science. In 2002, Bakalli was the first witness to testify at

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars, war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to tr ...

at the

trial of Slobodan Milošević The war crimes trial of Slobodan Milošević, the former President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) lasted for just over four years from 2002 until his death in 2006. ...

. Bakalli succumbed to

throat cancer Head and neck cancer is a general term encompassing multiple cancers that can develop in the head and neck region. These include cancers of the mouth, tongue, gums and lips ( oral cancer), voice box ( laryngeal), throat ( nasopharyngeal, orophar ...

on April 14, 2006, at the age of 70 following a prolonged treatment. He was survived by his wife and three daughters.

Notes

References

External links

BBC report on Bakalli's testimony against Slobodan Milošević
in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' 1936 births 2006 deaths Politicians from Gjakova Deaths from esophageal cancer Deaths from cancer in Kosovo University of Belgrade Faculty of Political Science alumni League of Communists of Kosovo politicians Ex officio members of the Presidency of the 9th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Ex officio members of the Presidency of the 10th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Ex officio members of the Presidency of the 11th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Members of the Central Committee of the 10th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Members of the Central Committee of the 11th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Yugoslav Albanians {{Kosovo-politician-stub