After calling civil society's concerns 'a lie', Gonxha lowers his tone regarding the interventions in the former Spaç prison

The Minister of Economy and Culture, Blendi Gonxhja, reacted for the second time on Saturday to the intervention undertaken by the National Institute of Cultural Heritage (IKTK) in the former Spaç prison, promising transparency in the implementation of the project.

"The reconstruction of the bathrooms and the terrace above them is not part of the intervention, nor has it been approved by IKTK, nor is it included in the project or contract," Gonxha said in a statement on Facebook, which he said came as a result of the ongoing debates in public media and social media.

"Other elements such as a metal tower, a piece of fencing, a gate and a railing fragment, included in the contract, will be realized only after detailed disassembly, based on photos and historical evidence, and will be demountable in the event of other future interventions according to the Management Plan," Gonxha added, while promising that any information will be public.

The Spaç prison camp was built by the Enver Hoxha regime in 1968 to exploit the manual labor of thousands of political prisoners in the extraction of copper and pyrite in the mine.

The IKTK's intervention, which aims to pave the way for the filming of a feature film about the 1973 revolt – after which four prisoners were executed and dozens of others were re-sentenced – has raised concerns among heritage and historical memory activists, as well as former prisoners and their families.

The feature film will be shot in the former prison premises by director Namik Ajazi, who previously told BIRN that the interventions were being made with the approval of Prime Minister Edi Rama.

Through a petition, dozens of civil society organizations asked the Ministry of Economy and Culture, as well as the IKTK, to suspend the works, which according to them do not respect the authenticity of the object.

"Recently published images and information on the ground show that construction work is being carried out in the protected area - walls with new blocks and plastering of buildings that erase the traces of time, seriously endangering the authenticity of the building," the activists say in the petition sent to the authorities.

"These interventions contradict the living testimonies of former political prisoners in this prison and the archival records of the time," they emphasize.

According to civil society organizations, IKTK's intervention also conflicts with the Spaç Management Plan.

On Saturday, dozens of activists and former political prisoners who have suffered in the notorious prison – including writer Fatos Lubonja, gathered for the second day in Spaç to oppose the IKTK's interventions.

A day earlier, the Minister of Economy and Culture, Blendi Gonxhja, who is seen as a possible candidate for mayor of Tirana, described the concerns of former prisoners and activists as "unnecessary noise", labeling them as "the Sancho Panchos of old politics".

Sancho Pancho is one of the most famous characters in world literature, the right-hand man and faithful companion of Don Quixote in the classic novel Don Quixote of La Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes. He is a contrasting figure to Don Quixote's idealism and represents the voice of reason.

Protests by civil society and former political prisoners seem to have brought Bledi Gonxhe to his feet. However, it remains unclear whether the minister has called to mind and will stop the IKTK's intervention in Spaç. Reporter.al