Skënder Haluci, former head of the Vlora Court, has died suddenly at the age of 64. His death has brought renewed attention to a rare and harrowing episode from his life: his arrest under communism, his initial death sentence, and, years later, his withdrawal from the judicial panel that was to examine the case of Ramiz Alia.
Death at the age of 64
Haluci died this morning in the mountains of Tropoja, where he was on vacation with his family.
The news has prompted reactions among those who knew him and revived interest in one of the most unusual stories associated with his name.
Arrest and sentencing in 1983
According to the account of journalist and writer Mitro Çela, in 1983 Skënder Haluci was arrested in Tropoja on charges that he had planned to kill Ramiz Alia, who at the time was a central figure in the regime.
According to the same account, after the trial he was initially sentenced to death and for two days remained with a hood over his head, awaiting the final decision. The sentence was later commuted and changed to 25 years in prison.
Prison and family tragedy
During his time in Burrel prison, Haluci also suffered a major family loss: the death of his father at just 46 years old.
This episode remains one of the darkest details of his personal history, in a period when the justice system of the dictatorship functioned as an instrument of political punishment.
From convict to judge, then faced with the Ramiz Alia case
After leaving prison, Haluci returned to social life and later became a judge, eventually serving as head of the Vlora Court.
In 1997, when Ramiz Alia faced justice, Skënder Haluci’s name was drawn by lot to serve on the judicial panel that would examine the case. According to Mitro Çela’s account, he decided to withdraw from that panel.
Skënder Haluci’s story remains one of those cases in which a personal biography collides directly with political history and with the wounds of yesterday’s justice system.
His passing revives not only the memory of the former judge, but also old questions about how the past system produced accusations, extreme sentences and consequences that followed people for decades.