August 30 marks the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances and it is very significant that declassified former state security files are being disclosed to the public for the first time.

As part of the events paying tribute to the missing people, whose remains have yet to be recovered and circumstances of their death to be established, their stories revealed through the former state security files have been collected in various cities across the country and they also show how the Sigurimi used to write history back then.

Prime Minister Edi Rama, who attended the ceremony, publicly sent condolences to the family of renowned singer Sherif Merdani, who passed away at 81 a day ago.

Prime Minister Edi Rama said his government is proud of the fact that it has provided compensation to the former political prisoners of the Communist regime.

The government head also pledged that prisoners of Communist regime, forced to toil underground in brutal conditions, will be granted miners’ pension.

“Meanwhile, those who have been subjected to hard labour, being forced to work in mines during serving their sentences, the problem they face in terms of the pension payment is both absurd, but also because of certain aspects of the law, and I hope it would be solved soon,” PM Rama said.

The government head noted that the process of compensating former political prisoners has dragged on for years, until his government took office seven years ago. He underlined that raising awareness over the past is of crucial importance, not only to the descendants of the former politically persecuted people, not only those who were born during the Communist regime, but also the future generations that know little or nothing at all about the period of the Communist dictatorship.

“This exhibition is a modest contribution on this path and despite long delays Albania has succeeded in setting concrete reference points about the past and the Authority for Access to Information on ex-Sigurimi Files is one of these reference points, along with the law on this issue, which was opposed by the opposition in parliament,” he said.

PM Rama added he didn’t want to debate over this issue, stating that “previous governments should have made instant steps in this direction.”

“We have tried to do as much as we could so that light is shed on this history in view of the future and not only for the sake of all of those who have been directly affected by the dictatorship. This exhibition is yet another modest but important contribution as part of this effort and I believe that despite the long-delayed and pending issues over the years, Albania today has succeeded in setting several concrete, tangible reference points to the past. The Authority for Access to Information on ex-Sigurimi Files is the most important reference point as it has provided many people the opportunity to open the doors and explore the labyrinths of a still fully unexplored history,” he said.

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