On December 20, 1959, from Burrel Prison, Hulusi Spahiu wrote a letter to Enver Hoxha denouncing the treatment being meted out to him and his family.
In the letter, Spahiu complained that his wife, Vincenza, was being prevented from visiting him in prison. According to him, she was not allowed to come to Burrel regularly and visits were limited to once every two months.
He also wrote about the arrest of his son, Ulisi. According to Spahiu, the son was held in prison for a month after he called to ask when he could meet his father.
Another serious part of the letter was related to the physical violence against him. Spahiu denounced that he had been beaten by Captain Beqir Kurti, a guard at Burrel prison.
According to later documents, the State Security denied most of his claims, but admitted that Captain Beqir Kurti had punched him. For this, disciplinary action was taken against him and he was transferred.
Hulusi Spahiu was one of the well-known figures of the Albanian army after the War. He had been an officer of the Royal Army during the time of Zog, a fighter of the Internationalist Brigades in the Spanish Civil War, a communist and partisan from Gjirokastra. During the National Liberation War he served as commander of the 3rd Assault Brigade, while after 1944 he received the rank of major general, became a deputy of the People's Assembly and commander of the Artillery of the Albanian Army.
The blow to him came after the Tirana Conference of April 1956, where criticism was articulated within the ALP towards the leadership, the cult of the individual, privileges and the lack of internal democracy in the party.
After this conference, Enver Hoxha launched a wave of political punishments against those considered critical or unsuitable for the official party line. In this climate, Hulusi Spahiu was also hit. He was demobilized from the army, then arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Meanwhile, his wife and son were exiled for five years each.
After serving his sentence, Spahiu was exiled to the Lushnja area, where he died in 1973.
His letter from Burrel shows that the communist regime did not spare even the people who had served it. When someone went against the political line, the blow did not stop at him alone. It also extended to the family, to the wife who was prevented from going to a meeting, to the son who was arrested, and to the convict who in prison even faced the violence of the guard.
