By: Roland Qafoku

Until January 30, 1913, the Montenegrin army had an enemy that did not allow them to take Shkodra. His name was Hasan Riza Pasha and he was the commander of the Ottoman-Albanian army with the rank of general. But, at 18:00 on this day, several gunshots to his body laid him on the ground, seriously injuring him, and only a day later he passed away.

From this moment, the road was open for the Montenegrins, while the plan of the commander of the Ottoman-Albanian army to launch the attack 24 hours later, remained only on paper. Esad Pasha Toptani, who replaced the murdered commander, surrendered Shkodra unconditionally, while the assassination of Hasan Riza Pasha accomplished the goal.

CRIME SCENE

The manner of Hasan Riza Pasha's murder resembles an intrigue and puzzle both typical Ottoman and Balkan. On the afternoon of January 30, his deputy, Esad Pasha Toptani, invited Hasan Riza Pasha to his house. After the two talked one-on-one about the war plans for the defense of Shkodra, unaccompanied by his own guards, Hasan Riza Pasha left Esad's house and walked on foot.

There were only 150 meters to describe and his companions at those moments were Esad Pasha Toptan's two personal guards, Osman Bali and Mehmet Kavaja. The attendants signaled the assassins by waving the lanterns they held in their hands. Suddenly, helped by the darkness, two people who had been ambushed behind a wall opened fire on Hasan Riza Pasha.

From the wounds received, the general fell to the ground seriously injured, while the two companions did not react to the night killers.

HOW THE MURDER WAS ORGANIZED

It is one of those organized murders that shame the Albanian the most. A foreigner who led the defense of Shkodra was killed in this city by the Albanians. It seemed that everything was perfectly organized and, according to all accounts, Esad Pasha Toptani was the mastermind and organizer. His two companions, Osman Bali and Mehmet Kavaja, served as guides, but also as informers of the killers.

The entire murder plan, the way of execution and the people involved in it, turn out to have been made by Toptan's most loyal man, Osman Bali. Edith Durham, the English ethnologist and friend of Shkodran and Albanians, present in Albania at that time, describes the event like this:

"That night, after the dinner he had with Esat, Hasan Riza was killed by two men dressed as women. After that, Osman Bali and Mehmet Kavaja, both servants of Esat, boasted saying that they had committed this act".

But, even more precisely and in more detail, the scene of the crime is given by Eqrem bey Vlora, who, even though he is the son of Esad Pasha Toptan's sister, is not at all shy to directly implicate his uncle.

"Esat Pasha Toptani invited Hasan Riza Pasha for a dinner at his house. After the meal, he accompanied his friend and superior to the door of the garden, and there he ordered Osman Bali, one of his most loyal followers, to light the pasha's way to his house with a lantern. Osman Bali, a powerful man in the area of ​​Tirana, thus played the role of mediator and organizer of this murder. The killers were a Catholic from Kthella (before his natural death in 1924, he confessed to the priest) and a Muslim from Tirana. Both of them were hiding behind the wall of a garden, waiting for the Turkish general to pass by, completely unconcerned. Osman Bali walked... in front of Hasan Riza Pasha. Next to the host, he raised the lantern three times and at that moment the krismas were also used."

Even the Turkish historian of Albanian origin, Nexhip Alpan, expresses his conviction about the author: "Esadi killed his rival Hasan Riza Pasha with treachery. Even though Esadi replaced the administration of the Vilayet, he did not investigate the hired killers."

That same evening, the Italian journalist Gino Berri wrote in his diary:

"However, Esat Pasha is ashamed, as they say. In Albania, when a man leaves a house where he has been a friend, he is untouchable and whoever touches him insults the owner of the house who was his friend. He remains under the heavy weight of suspicion and has the right to take revenge on the murderer to atone for the shame that tarnishes him. Suspicion remains until the bloodsucker is discovered."

DEATH OF THE GENERAL

Hasan Riza Pasha survived his injuries for only 7 hours and 15 minutes. At 02:00 in the afternoon of January 31, he died surrounded by his accomplices. The last minutes of his life were the strongest battle of his life. It seemed as if he did not accept death and began to talk without stopping.

The words that came out of his mouth in the form of a bequest are those of a great man: "I wanted to take these two decorations (bullets) in the war and not like this, and, after I am killed here, the sons of this country must take them from me the blood"!

Although they were depleting their powers, Hasan Riza Pasha also left the second and last bequest, which is more like a war order: "Swear that you will protect Shkodra until death!"

The chronicles of the time show that as the general died, the officers stood up, stood upright and took the oath according to the mandate given to them by the commander. A truly impressive tribute to the first martyr of the Albanian state.

THE IRAQIAN GENERAL AND SHKODRA

Albania had only declared independence two months ago, but the government of Ismail Qemal Vlora managed a territory of only a few square kilometers. Conceived as an independence with all lands, there was no way the prime minister did not pay special attention to Shkodra.

There is a correspondence between Ismail Qemal Vlora and Hasan Riza Pasha. The prime minister, who knew the Iraqi general very well, sent him a message that the defense of Shkodra was vital and the raising of the Albanian flag at the Rozafa fortress on January 31 was symbolic of this goal.

ESAD PASHA TOPTANI AND HASAN RIZA PASHA

Those hours and days Esad Pashë Toptani did not accept that he had a hand in the murder. He even gave a name as a possible author of the event. According to Toptan, the Montenegrins had paid a mountaineer from Shoshi named Ndoc Deda and he had ambushed the Iraqi general. But, in January 1914, an Austrian newspaper published a news story, according to which, in a meeting in Durrës with mountaineers, Esad Pasha admitted the murder: "Esad admitted that he himself had killed Hasan Rizai in order to gave freedom to Albania".

This revelation closes any dilettantish discussion or allusion to the "angelic position" of Assad and his tools. Esad's grandson, Eqrem bey Vlora, seems to seal Esad's authorship for the murder of Hasan Riza Pasha as he writes: "...This sin must be left on Esad Pasha's shoulders. He himself admitted this in the aforementioned conversation with Syrja Beu. The hand in this murder was a man of Esad named Osman Bali".

General Hasan Rizai, thus wounded, found a way to communicate with his deputy, Esad Pashë Toptani, that is, with the one who organized the ambush. Italian journalist Gino Berri brings a unique conversation between General Hasan Rizai and Esad.

"When he felt death near, he gave a sad smile to the officers who were sitting by his bed. And, raising his hand slowly, he thanked them for what they had done for him. Then, he beckoned Esat Pasha to approach him: "I leave my family in care, he told her, not to be forgotten." Take care my son. Do not tell him that they killed me, but that I was killed in combat. Perhaps from this thought he will suffer less."

There is no evidence that after killing Hasan Rizai, Esadi completed the bequest for his son. 7 years later, Esadi himself was killed in an assassination attempt, one of the reasons for which was the betrayal of Shkodra and the murder of General Pasha. /topic/

(Taken from the book "The 100 most sensational murders in the history of the Albanian state 1912-2017")

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