Albanian PM Urged to Help Find Missing Businessman

The son of the Albanian Macedonian businessman Remzi Hoxha, disappeared 20 years ago after being abducted by four Albanian Secret Service, SHISH, agents, has urged Prime Minister Edi Rama to put those responsible behind bars and help the family find out where his remains are.

After several calls made to Rama on the issue, son Ardian Hoxha has started a petition campaign in three cities - Tirana, Albania, Pristina, Kosovo, and Skopje, Macedonia, asking citizens to sign and help finally resolve the long mystery.

The petition will be delivered to the Albanian Prime Minister's office accompanied by a request that he speak out and rapidly act on the matter.

Speaking to BIRN, Hoxha said his family had asked Rama and other government bodies to urge the British government and the international police organization, INTERPOL to find and extradite Ilir Kumbaro, the former secret officer who was found guilty of his father's torture and presumed death.

"After this long journey we want to know where the remains of our father are. This is our main aim and if Ilir Kumbaro is behind bars we will have a chance to find them," Hoxha said.

He told BIRN that he already had information that the Prime Minister will receive him and make a statement about this issue.

He added that the petition had been signed by about 3,500 citizens in Tirana, 4.500 in Pristina and 2.700 in Skopje while another 900 signed it online.

Remzi Hoxha was abducted in October 1995 in Tirana by four SHISH officers. Prosecutors believe that after being placed in a SHISH safe house in Lezha, in northern Albania, Hoxha died as a result of the wounds inflicted during torture.

The reasons for the abduction and torture remain unclear. Some media...