The Tragedy of Otranto/ How the Italian side manipulated the investigations. The ship "Sibila" abandoned Albanian women and children in the open sea

The most inhumane thing in this whole story is the fact that after the incident, the corvette "Sibila" left, leaving the people to drown.

The Italian ship returned only after half an hour, but the time was enough for dozens of men, women and children to drown.

"Near me was a girl from the villages of Fier who asked me for help and I dragged her to the Italian ship that returned after 30 minutes because she wanted to leave us. I saw dead bodies. They had drunk water. They were swollen", said Krenari.

Even after the ship returned, the crew's treatment of the Albanians was cruel. They have even threatened immigrants who dared to accuse them of causing that crime against vulnerable children.

"After half an hour, "Sibila" came again, divided us into two groups. 23 in a corridor, he brought us a cup of tea and one of our friends told him what did you do, criminal, you killed us: "Stay wise" he said, I threw you into the sea too. He was a sworn criminal against Albanians".

Who wouldn't shudder just reading the names and birthdays of these dreamers who were trying to leave the country, after the anarchy that engulfed it from the bankruptcy of the pyramid schemes.

The bodies of the drowned were retrieved 8 months later, from a depth of 823 meters, after a four-day operation.

Inside the ship "Kateri i Rada" 57 bodies were found, mostly women and children, who during the fatal moment were locked inside, without any possibility of escape.

In addition to a painful process, the family members accuse that even when the ship with the dead bodies was taken out, there were attempts at manipulation by the Italians, as they wanted as few victims as possible.

In this ceremony, there was no representative or official of the Italian side, but only a long line of clothes and personal belongings, where family members went one by one to identify their loved ones.

"They pretended to be Castile when they were filming, but I knew where my family was, at the command inside, that they were filming Castile and my family was not visible, and I said: I will take you as in the movie, "The general of the dead army, "I was very revolted".

Procesi i verifikimit të trupave ka qenë një moment dramatik për familjarët. Ata rrëfejnë se trupat nuk ishin prishur fare dhe ishin lehtësisht të identifikueshëm, përveç fëmijëve të mitur.

Krenari ende nuk ka mundur ta harrojë pamjen e vogëlushes së tij, e cila qëndroi në fund të detit më shumë se sa qëndroi në jetë. Por u deshën edhe 6 muaj të tjerë që trupat e tyre të pajetë të vinin të preheshin në tokën e tyre, në vitin 1998.

Së bashku me “Katerin e Radës” dolën në sipërfaqe edhe dy prova të forta: dy gropa të shkaktuara nga “Sibila” që ishin mohuar nga autoritetet italiane, por çdo dëshmitar kishte këmbëngulur se ishin goditur.

Ky është memoriali i viktimave të pafajshme që nuk i shkaktoi një luftë, por justifikimi i një marrëveshje për ruajtjen e kufijve detarë në dëm të jetëve të pambrojtura njerëzore.

Entire families extinguished…. young people whose dreams were left forever in the waters of Otranto and hundreds of family members who have not been able to find either peace or justice for their relatives./ TCH