News
"Spaç 1973 - Martyrs of Freedom" is screened in Korça
4 October 2025
The documentary "Spaç 1973 -Martyrs of Freedom", after Tirana, was shown in the city of Korça at the beginning of October. The documentary brings testimonies, survivors' accounts and archival materials that recall one of the most courageous acts of anti-communist resistance in Albania. They are part of the documentary that aims to preserve historical memory, honor the martyrs of freedom and convey to the younger generations the message that truth and dignity cannot be suppressed by violence.
To watch the news on YouTube click here.
The missing of Spaç, ICMP and AIDSSH, surveys at suspected burial sites
30 September 2025
The two suspected burial sites in Shpal, Mirdita, result in very high expectations for the presence of remains of missing persons. The results are part of a survey that a group of expert archaeologists and anthropologists in collaboration with AIDSSH experts conducted during the third week of September. The surveys that were conducted during the third week of September were also conducted in 4 other suspected burial sites. The results were optimistic and challenging. Optimistic in terms of the possibilities of finding remains, but at the same time they point to serious challenges related to difficult terrain, mountainous areas, landslides, overlapping structures, ownership issues, as well as the need for careful management of the finds and DNA analysis.
One of the suspected burial sites is thought to contain the remains of those who disappeared in the Spaç prison camp, including the four executed during the Spaç Revolt, Skënder Daja, Pal Zefi, Dervish Bejko and Hajri Pashaj. Their bodies were disappeared by the regime after their execution. On September 30, 2025, the Authority for Information on Documents of the Former State Security (AIDSSH) held a working meeting with Ms. Samara Krehic, head of the Western Balkans program of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), to determine further steps in cooperation after the completion of surveys in six suspected burial sites in Albania.
In the framework of the cooperation agreement between the Government of Albania and the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), as well as in implementation of the UN Convention against Enforced Disappearances and Law No. 45/2015, the Files Authority, in cooperation with the OSCE Office in Tirana, has also prepared a draft DCM that determines the authorities responsible for finding, identifying and recovering the remains of persons missing or executed during the communist period (1944–1991), as well as for the protection of burial sites identified or suspected as such. As an institution very close to the families harmed by communism, the Authority is following this painful but necessary process step by step to restore the denied dignity of the victims of communism.
For more information about this event, click here.
The book "Re-Condemnation", finalist for the "Angelus" award
30 September 2025
The book "Re-Condemnation" by publicist Fatos Lubonja is a finalist for the "Angelus" award to be held on October 18 in Wrocław, Poland. The news was announced by the translator of Albanian literature into Polish, Dorota Horodyska, after the announcement on the official website of the award. This is reported by reporter.al.
“Re-Conviction” documents the events in Spaç prison from the summer of 1978 to May ’79, for a trial set up behind closed doors, accusing Lubonja of being part of a “counter-revolutionary anti-socialist organization,” along with other political prisoners. Three of his fellow prisoners, Vangjel Lezho, Fadil Kokomani, and Xhelal Koprencka, are shot, he himself is sentenced for a second time to 25 years in prison.
For more information about this event, click here.
