Tahir Demi (1919–1961) was an

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. He was high-ranking member of the

Party of Labour of Albania The Party of Labour of Albania (PLA), also 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 on 8 November 1941 as the Communist Party of ...

and representative of

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

Comecon The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, often abbreviated as Comecon ( ) or CMEA, was an economic organization from 1949 to 1991 under the leadership of the Soviet Union that comprised the countries of the Eastern Bloc#List of states, Easter ...

. 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, that had been planning a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

against

Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist revolutionary and politician who was the leader of People's Socialist Republic of Albania, Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was the Secretary (titl ...

Life

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

Filiates Filiates (; ) is a town and a Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in Thesprotia, Greece. It is located in the northernmost part of the regional unit, bordering western Ioannina (regional unit), Ioannina regional unit and southern ...

, modern northwestern

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

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

University of Tirana The University of Tirana (, 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 (SUT) in 1957 through merging of five existing institutes ...

. 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 (, DSSh), commonly called the ''Sigurimi'', was the National security, state security, Intelligence (information gathering), intelligence and secret police service of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania. I ...

'', Albania's secret police, for being part of an alleged joint Greek-Yugoslav-Italian- US Sixth Fleet counterrevolutionary plot to overthrow the Albanian government. He was arrested along with seven military commanders including Teme Sejko, a Rear Admiral of the Albanian Navy. 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 editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of '' Zëri i Popullit'' Taho Sejko 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 under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...

. According to some sources the executions had arisen because

disagreed with the conclusions of a Party conference in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, 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 ov ...

in 1956.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demi, Tahir 1919 births 1961 deaths 20th-century executions by Albania Tahir Executed Albanian people People from Filiates People's Socialist Republic of Albania