Tahir Demi (1919–1961) was an Albanian politician. He was high-ranking member of the

Party of Labour of Albania The Party of Labour of Albania ( sq, Partia e Punës e Shqipërisë, PPSh), sometimes referred to as the Albanian Workers' Party (AWP), was the ruling and sole legal party of Albania during the communist period (1945–1991). It was founded o ...

and representative of

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the ...

Comecon The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (, ; English abbreviation COMECON, CMEA, CEMA, or CAME) was an economic organization from 1949 to 1991 under the leadership of the Soviet Union that comprised the countries of the Eastern Bloc along wi ...

. In 1960 he was arrested and sentenced to death in 1961 for being a member of a pro-Soviet group, led by Rear Admiral

Teme Sejko Teme Sejko (August 25, 1922 – May 31, 1961) was an Albanians, Albanian Rear admiral, Rear Admiral and commander of the Albanian navy and the naval base of Durrës. In 1961 he was executed for allegedly being the leader of a pro-Soviet group tha ...

, that had been planning a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, ...

against

Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 unt ...

Life

Tahir Demi, a member of the Demi family, was born in

Filiates Filiates ( el, Φιλιάτες; ) is a town and a municipality in Thesprotia, Greece. It is located in the northernmost part of the regional unit, bordering western Ioannina regional unit and southern Albania. Name The region of Filiates was kn ...

, modern northwestern

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

(

Chameria Chameria ( sq, Çamëria; el, Τσαμουριά, ''Tsamouriá''; tr, Çamlık) is a term used today mostly by Albanians to refer to parts of the coastal region of Epirus in southern Albania and Greece, traditionally associated with the Alban ...

) in 1919. In the 1930s he studied at the faculty of law of the

University of Tirana The University of Tirana ( sq, Universiteti i Tiranës, abbreviated UT) is a public university located at the central borough of Tirana 10 in Tirana, Albania. It was established as the ''State University of Tirana'' in 1957 through merging of f ...

. He was married to Sadete Demi Toto and has 3 children Pellumb, Ilirjan, Teuta. In 1943 he joined the National Liberation Movement of Albania and became a member of the

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

he became chairman of the Party of Labour committee of Elbasan District and Albania's delegate at

. In July 1960 he was arrested by the ''

Sigurimi The Directorate of State Security (), commonly called the ''Sigurimi'', was the state security, intelligence and secret police service of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania. Its proclaimed goal was maintaining state security of Albania, ...

'', Albania's secret police, for being part of an alleged joint Greek-Yugoslav-Italian-

US Sixth Fleet The Sixth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy operating as part of United States Naval Forces Europe. The Sixth Fleet is headquartered at Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy. The officially stated mission of the Sixth Fleet in ...

counterrevolutionary plot to overthrow the Albanian government. He was arrested along with seven military commanders including

, a Rear Admiral of the

Albanian Navy The Albanian Naval Force ( sq, Forca Detare të Republikës së Shqipërisë) is the naval branch of the Albanian military. Their name was changed from the Albanian Naval Defense Forces in 2010. The Naval Force is headquartered in Durrës, and ...

. The other defendants included ex-

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of ''

Zëri i Popullit ''Zëri i Popullit'' ( en, Voice of the People) is an Albanian online newspaper. It was the official press organ of the Party of Labour and, later, of the Socialist Party of Albania, but it later ceased print publication and became an independen ...

Taho Sejko Tahô () is a Philippine snack food made of fresh soft/silken tofu, ''arnibal'' (sweetener and flavoring), and sago pearl (similar to tapioca pearls). This staple comfort food is a signature sweet and tahô peddlers can be found all ove ...

and Liri Belishova, chairwoman of the Central Committee of the

. They were tried in May 1961 and convicted. Tahir Demi was sentenced to death and executed after the trial along with three other high-ranking members of the Albanian army and the

, Teme Sejko, Abdyl Resuli and Hajri Mane on 31 May 1961. The four remaining defendants received prison sentences ranging from 15 years to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed te ...

. According to some sources the executions had arisen because

disagreed with the conclusions of a Party conference in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

in 1956.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demi, Tahir 1919 births 1961 deaths 20th-century executions by Albania

Tahir Taher ( ar, طاهر) (spelled Tahir and Tahar in English and French, Тагир in Russian; Pashto,Urdu and Persian: طاهر,; ) is a name meaning "pure" or "virtuous". The origin of this name is Arabic. There are several Semitic variations tha ...

Executed Albanian people People from Filiates People's Socialist Republic of Albania