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He was born in Shkodër and became involved in political and administrative life during the years of the Second World War. He worked at the Ministry of Finance and, for a brief period, served as Minister in the government of Mustafa Kruja. He later resigned and continued his activities among the nationalist ranks.

He was one of the main leaders of the Postriba Uprising, an armed movement against the communist regime that took place on September 9, 1946, in the Postriba area near Shkodër.

The uprising sought to oppose the newly established communist regime and its policies in post-war Albania. It was suppressed by government forces within a short period and was followed by arrests, investigations, and punitive measures against participants and individuals suspected of supporting the uprising.

Following the suppression of the uprising, Jup Kazazi withdrew to the mountainous areas. On September 17, 1946, after being surrounded by government forces, he took his own life to avoid falling into the hands of the communist forces. His name is closely associated with the organization and leadership of the Postriba Uprising, one of the significant episodes of armed resistance against the communist regime during the early post-war years.

The issue of missing persons and suspected burial sites is part of AIDSSH’s work to document the past and seek answers for families. Following the expansion of its legal mandate in 2020, the Authority has continued to identify and document suspected burial sites, particularly in Shkodra County.

• 2023: Marking of a suspected burial site near Rrmaji Cemetery, in cooperation with Shkodër Municipality.
• 2024: Continuation of investigations and non-invasive searches for suspected burial sites.
• 2025: Documentation and public presentation of the history of the missing and suspected burial sites.
• 2026: Continuation of investigations and submission of documentation for controlled excavations and exhumations.
• 28 August 2026: Inauguration of the permanent exhibition “Rrmaji – A Place of Remembrance and Search” near Rrmaji Cemetery.

After the establishment of the communist regime in November 1944, Shkodra became one of the areas where political repression took particularly severe forms, involving arrests, interrogations, trials, executions, and the continuous surveillance and pursuit of political opponents and groups regarded as hostile by the regime. At different times, repression also extended to the clergy, families, and individuals suspected of anti-regime activities, as well as to those attempting to cross the border. In the early years of the regime, repression included extensive operations in Kelmend and the suppression of the armed resistance in Postribë. During the period 1945–1948, contemporary documentation records a large number of groups and individuals considered by the authorities to be opponents of the regime. Some were arrested and sentenced to imprisonment or death, while other cases involved killings during attempts to flee the country or at the border.

Mit’hat Frashëri was born on March 25, 1880, in Ioannina. He was the son of Abdyl Frashëri, one of the leaders of the League of Prizren, and the nephew of Sami and Naim Frashëri, prominent figures of the Albanian National Renaissance.

He was educated in Istanbul, where he also became involved in the Ottoman administration. His engagement in Albanian national affairs was particularly notable at the Congress of Manastir in 1908, where he was elected Chairman of the Congress and Vice-Chairman of the Alphabet Commission. The Congress represented a pivotal moment in the process of standardizing the Albanian alphabet, under the leadership of Gjergj Fishta as chairman of the relevant commission.

In 1944, amid the Second World War and political changes in Albania, he left the country and settled in the United States. Mit’hat Frashëri died on October 3, 1949, in New York, following a heart attack.

Mehdi Frashëri had a long career in the Albanian state administration, holding various ministerial positions, including Minister of the Interior, Minister of Public Works, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Agriculture, and Minister of Justice, as well as serving as Prime Minister. Following the Italian invasion of Albania in 1939, he was interned and later became Chairman of the Regency during the German occupation.

After the Second World War, he was sentenced to death in absentia by the communist regime.

The State Security file documents his activities during and after the war, including accusations of activities against the regime, attempts to emigrate, and connections with opposition groups, including the Central Committee in Cairo and figures such as Ahmet Zogu.

Following the explosion of a small quantity of dynamite in the courtyard of the Soviet Embassy on February 19, the communist regime used the incident as a pretext to target members of the intellectual elite.

Sabiha Kasimati, together with 21 other intellectuals, was arrested and accused, without concrete evidence, of being “enemies of the people” and “terrorists.” Without an opportunity to mount a defense and without a regular trial, they were executed near the Beshiri Bridge on February 26, 1951, while the decision authorizing their execution was issued on February 27, 1951, one day after their deaths.

Following the fall of the communist regime in 1991, the victims’ families sought clarification of the circumstances surrounding the event and the identification of the execution site. The Plenum of the Supreme Court declared the convicted individuals innocent, ruling that Decision No. 64, dated February 27, 1951, of the Military Supreme Court was unlawful and unsupported by concrete evidence.

Following further investigations, the execution site was identified in 1993, and the victims’ remains were reburied with honors at the Martyrs’ Cemetery of the Nation.