Ceno Bey Kryeziu

Biography

Ceno Kryeziu was the son of Riza Bey Kryeziu, a well known leader in the Yakova region and activist of Albanian national movements of the early 20th century. During the First Balkan War, Ceno fought against Montenegrins, collaborated with Esat Toptani, and was vice prefect in Kruma. In 1915 he was arrested by the Austrians and imprisoned. Later, he would serve as a mayor in Gjakova due to his excellent relationship with the Yugoslavian authorities, not in synchrony with the rest of Kosovo Albanians. Things would change in 1922, when he married Nafije, sister of Ahmed Zogu, later to be proclaimed Zog I, King of Albania. During the June Revolution he left Albania. A special court in Tirana sentenced him to death on December 12, 1924 in absentia together with many other political figures. It was later converted to a life sentence. Kryeziu assisted Ahmed Zogu and others in their escape to Yugoslavia, and established connections between Zog and the Yugoslavian side. He was very useful for Ahmet Zogu due to his membership in Nikola Pašić's Radical Party and had a good relationship with Ljubomir Davidović. After the return of Zog in Albania, he was given the rank of a Colonel and put in charge of the Albanian army stationary in Shkodër, where he showed extreme diligence in persecuting and eliminating members of the former Democratic Opposition and people who contributed in the June Revolution. During this time he was a regular informant to the Yugoslavian secret services. Kryeziu was directly responsible for the assassination of Asllan Curri, Zija Dibra, and the Montenegrin nationalist and anti-Yugoslav Marko Raspopović. He is mentioned in the newspaper "Ora e Shqypnisë", to have stated to the Yugoslavians: You see, I kept my promise. I have captured and killed your enemy Marko Raspopović. I got rid of Gurakuqi, Curri, Dibra, for the sake of our peace and yours. In late 1925, he was elected Minister of Interior, resulting in him giving up Yugoslavian citizenship. In 1925 after his relations with the Yugoslavians were exposed due to the confrontation with the special emissary of Nikola Pašić in Tirana, Branko Lazarević, Zog suspected that he might be involved in a plot against him and exiled him to France, and later would call him back and delegate him as Ambassador to Belgrade. There were rumors circulating about the Yugoslavians having elected him as the most trusted man to replace Zog in Albania, due to Zog's affiliation with Italy and distancing from his Yugoslavian support.

Assassination

On July 26, 1927, Kryeziu was elected Ambassador of Czechoslovakia. He went to Prague in October of that year. On October 14 he was shot after coming out of a restaurant. The assailant was an Albanian student residing in Prague, Alkibijad Bebi (Albanian: Alqiviadh Bebi), born in Elbasan. Alqiviadh Bebi had been following Ceno Beg in Beograd. He had even been stopped by Yugoslavian police but released in absence of real evidence. After shooting Kryeziu, Alqiviadh Bebi stayed calm and surrendered to the local police. It is still not completely clear who was responsible for the assassination's plan. According to Elsie, and confirmed by official sources in Communist Albania, he was clearly an Albanian secret agent working for Ahmet Zogu. Zogu made sure to publicly show that Ceno's death had caused him sadness and despair. During his police interview, Bebi testified: "I killed Ceno Bey, because he is a serbophile, and was trying to sell Albania to Yugoslavia". Bebi would be killed during his procession inside a court room by an Yugoslavian agent, named Zijah Vushtria. Vushtria was an Albanian from Kosovo and allegedly a former bodyguard of Kryeziu. He was arrested and released soon after with the intervention of Yugoslavian authorities.

Legacy

Ceno Bey was the father of Tati Kryeziu, for a short time the successor of the Royal crown, until the birth of Leka I in 1939.