By Habjon Hasani
All judicial files of the expelled Cham population from Greece had to be destroyed. This fact has been confirmed by Vasilios Javella, former chief prosecutor of Ioannina, during a correspondence that he had with the Greek Interior Ministry in 1976. One of the letters has fallen into the hands of the Albanian state and was handed over to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of that time. It is now fully possible to publish the translated copy, provided in the archive of the Foreign Ministry (classified with a stamp as a secret document), whereas it is clear that in the hands of the Albanian state there may be a copy of the original document, written in Greek. The first to address such a scandal was the publicist Mentor Nazarko, who in the book "The Last War" made it clear that the Greek state ordered the destruction of the Cham population files. The document in question has been provided at the Albanian Foreign Ministry, in whose files are hiden previously unknown events and developments, which appear to carry a first and very significant first-hand information at the national level.
In the document, dated September 29, 1976, the chief prosecutor of Janina, Vasilios Javella, on behalf of the Dictation Court in Ioannina, through a letter no. prot. 1837, in the framework of an intensive official correspondence of those times, responded to the Greek Ministry of Public Order. This response came after the official letter that the Criminal Directory Department of the Greek Ministry of Public Order sent to former chief prosecutor Javella asking the latter to make available all the files on criminal matters that the Greek state had compiled against the Cham population. Having been acquainted with this request, Javellas has sent the letter in question, in which he admitted that by order of the Greek Ministry of Justice these files had disappeared! The former chief prosecutor of Ioannina specified in this letter that it was the Order No. 17835/1976 of the Ministry of Justice that forced him to destroy and permanently erase that documentation. Javella argued that according to the order he had received from the Ministry of Justice, he had the duty to "evaporate" all criminal records of criminal proceedings: 1. All the files until 1970 2. That of the Criminal Court of Collaborators of Ioannina, Arta, Preveza until 1950. 3. As well as that of the Special Court of Ioannina for collaborators. From the comparison of these orders appears that the request for possession of the documentation by the Interior Ministry came after the order issued by Greece's Ministry of Justice for the destruction of these files .... Relating the reasons for this disappearance, the chief prosecutor of Ioannina in the response to the request of the Ministry of Public Order clarified that these files were eliminated, because the Ministry of Justice felt that they were of no value and that all the accused (the Chams in Albania ) were not found to be guilty,
"Considering these decisions as never communicated and that they have not been in force as such (implemented), therefore, as non-final," says the response that the former chief prosecutor gives to the Greek Ministry of Public Order. Further, in his response, he supports this reasoning (to erase files) in the Article 549 of the Criminal Law. This statement by former chief prosecutor of Greece seems to "blow up" a longstanding official Athens claim that has considered the persecuted and expelled Cham population as a collaborator of fascism. However, the difference between the claim expressed by the Greek Ministry of Justice and the Diplomacy of this country is absolutely contradictory, since at least only in this document, former chief prosecutor of Ioannina clearly articulates that the decisions taken by the Greek courts against the Cham population can not be considered due to the non-implementation of some fundamental principles during the trial of the case. The decision to undermine these files raises further questions. This is because all the files of the judgment of the population in the maximum absence would constitute a strong legal argument in the future or at least demonstrate a worthy material for the archives of history and beyond. Thus, at least the Greek Ministry of Justice in 1976 has eliminated the possibility of a transparency regarding the judgments made to the Cham population, which is presumed to be a collaborator with Nazism. Even now it seems that the Greek government has shown proper care to "after.
Even now it seems that the Greek government has shown proper care for the "purity" of its archives. The Greek state has always been very strict with its archives relating with the issue of persecution and deportation of the Cham population. A clear example that confirms this is found in the book "The Last War", which clearly shows that from the references that the author Nazarko has made to a Greek researcher of the issue, the latter claims that "it is terribly difficult and almost impossible" to obtain documents from the Greek state archives.
All judicial files of the expelled Cham population from Greece had to be destroyed. This fact has been confirmed by Vasilios Javella, former chief prosecutor of Ioannina, during a correspondence that he had with the Greek Interior Ministry in 1976. One of the letters has fallen into the hands of the Albanian state and was handed over to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of that time. It is now fully possible to publish the translated copy, provided in the archive of the Foreign Ministry (classified with a stamp as a secret document), whereas it is clear that in the hands of the Albanian state there may be a copy of the original document, written in Greek. The first to address such a scandal was the publicist Mentor Nazarko, who in the book "The Last War" made it clear that the Greek state ordered the destruction of the Cham population files. The document in question has been provided at the Albanian Foreign Ministry, in whose files are hiden previously unknown events and developments, which appear to carry a first and very significant first-hand information at the national level.
In the document, dated September 29, 1976, the chief prosecutor of Janina, Vasilios Javella, on behalf of the Dictation Court in Ioannina, through a letter no. prot. 1837, in the framework of an intensive official correspondence of those times, responded to the Greek Ministry of Public Order. This response came after the official letter that the Criminal Directory Department of the Greek Ministry of Public Order sent to former chief prosecutor Javella asking the latter to make available all the files on criminal matters that the Greek state had compiled against the Cham population. Having been acquainted with this request, Javellas has sent the letter in question, in which he admitted that by order of the Greek Ministry of Justice these files had disappeared! The former chief prosecutor of Ioannina specified in this letter that it was the Order No. 17835/1976 of the Ministry of Justice that forced him to destroy and permanently erase that documentation. Javella argued that according to the order he had received from the Ministry of Justice, he had the duty to "evaporate" all criminal records of criminal proceedings: 1. All the files until 1970 2. That of the Criminal Court of Collaborators of Ioannina, Arta, Preveza until 1950. 3. As well as that of the Special Court of Ioannina for collaborators. From the comparison of these orders appears that the request for possession of the documentation by the Interior Ministry came after the order issued by Greece's Ministry of Justice for the destruction of these files .... Relating the reasons for this disappearance, the chief prosecutor of Ioannina in the response to the request of the Ministry of Public Order clarified that these files were eliminated, because the Ministry of Justice felt that they were of no value and that all the accused (the Chams in Albania ) were not found to be guilty,
"Considering these decisions as never communicated and that they have not been in force as such (implemented), therefore, as non-final," says the response that the former chief prosecutor gives to the Greek Ministry of Public Order. Further, in his response, he supports this reasoning (to erase files) in the Article 549 of the Criminal Law. This statement by former chief prosecutor of Greece seems to "blow up" a longstanding official Athens claim that has considered the persecuted and expelled Cham population as a collaborator of fascism. However, the difference between the claim expressed by the Greek Ministry of Justice and the Diplomacy of this country is absolutely contradictory, since at least only in this document, former chief prosecutor of Ioannina clearly articulates that the decisions taken by the Greek courts against the Cham population can not be considered due to the non-implementation of some fundamental principles during the trial of the case. The decision to undermine these files raises further questions. This is because all the files of the judgment of the population in the maximum absence would constitute a strong legal argument in the future or at least demonstrate a worthy material for the archives of history and beyond. Thus, at least the Greek Ministry of Justice in 1976 has eliminated the possibility of a transparency regarding the judgments made to the Cham population, which is presumed to be a collaborator with Nazism. Even now it seems that the Greek government has shown proper care to "after.
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| Greek military, 1945 |
Even now it seems that the Greek government has shown proper care for the "purity" of its archives. The Greek state has always been very strict with its archives relating with the issue of persecution and deportation of the Cham population. A clear example that confirms this is found in the book "The Last War", which clearly shows that from the references that the author Nazarko has made to a Greek researcher of the issue, the latter claims that "it is terribly difficult and almost impossible" to obtain documents from the Greek state archives.