After a grueling three and a half hours journey along a horrendous road beyond the city of Burrel (North East Albania), we stand before the man, in whose house Del Ponte, in her Memoirs, believes the transplantation of body organs took place and perhaps the execution of Serb prisoners too. His name is Mr. Abdullah Katu詠and he is 74 years old. “They arrived at noon, on a July day of 2004. Two foreigners, no Albanians and the moment they arrived they began taking photographs of the house,” relates Katuci for “Tirana Times.” They said they had come on business because they were the “investors” in the motorway project of the Road of Arber nd that they had come to see “what they had invested their money in.” This is about all the old man recalls. (The Road of Arber will in fact run through the area some kilometers further on from the village). “They spoke Albanian, but they weren’t Albanians,” recalls Old Man Katu詬 whose house stands on the very outside perimeter of the village of Rip묠18 kilometers from Burrel. “They resembled Americans; quiet and laid back. They asked if I could let them a room, but I didn’t accept,” said the old man. Two months later, the old man was summoned to the Office of the Prosecutor of the District. “I signed a declaration that those foreigners had not slept over at my house that night, and then I left and returned home. One week later I was summoned again.
Again I was asked if any foreigners had been staying with me. Again I denied this.
The Village
A small bridge, recently built, links the
village of Rip묠where the Katu詭s live with
Little Gurr뮠The entire village is boxed in
by mountains and a stream runs through the
middle of it. Ideal spot for what the rumors
claim. The house of the Katu詭s provided
guides for travelers through these parts who
couldn’t traverse the river in the evening
dusk. This is what they have done for years
on end. Rip롩s a part of the Commune of
Gurr묠also made up of Big Gurr롡nd Little
Gurr묠Shulbardh and Mishtaj. This commune
has a population of 7000 who eek out
a living in exceptionally difficult conditions.
One day, thanks to the intervention and work
of their MP, they found themselves linked
via two bridges. Now they could send their
produce out to the national road, five-six
kilometers away. In this area, the locals live
thanks to the produce of their orchards, dairy
products, all the products they can now transport
down to the local village bazaar. “I survive
with my own hard labour and the sweat
of my brow,” says the old man. “I keep sheep
and cows; we make our own fodder, grow
our own vegetables, maize, vineyards etc.
We have never been afraid of anything or
anyone, because we are honest hard working
people with nothing to hide. We barely
manage to subsist ourselves, let alone do
things this Prosecutor describes. I have never
heard anything so ridiculous.”
Inquiry
The story about the house “where organs
were transplanted” does not end with the
unexpected visit by two foreign visitors. “On
5 April, 2004, a whole group of people were
to appear there. I got a phone call from the
Prosecutor’s Office in Burrel and I was told
that several foreign investigators would
come to Burrel. No one informed me about
the objective of their investigation or any
other detail. In one of the first days of February
2004, together with, the Rapid Deployment
Police group of Burrel, their foreign
