The Shabani and the Domgjoni
I remember the case of the family of Mark Shabani and the Domgjoni family, two families from the municipality of Gjakova, but they both lived here at one point, they were friends. One murder happened in the family, the Domgjoni family really damaged the Shabani family. Earlier, here in the United States of America, there was a professor, Marian Shabani, who was killed by the Domgjoni family. Although he was the son-in-law in that family, there were problems between the families and it came down to murder.
Gjergj Domgjoni was also a member of the association Shpresa, and this case was one in which the association Shpresa was more engaged, because it was a member of the association Shpresa who was in a blood feud with the Shabani family. And this person always had to have a besa [word of honor] from the Shabani family in order to live freely in New York, because if he did not have besa, you know, he could not go out, could not go anywhere, was completely isolated. He usually went to work and returned from work, but could not come to the meetings, and this was exactly the reason why the association Shpresa took this case up, because we had a member who was in a blood feud, and because he was not a person who had committed a crime, but he was a member of that family.
[…] We went to the Shabani family, we discussed personally with Mark Shabani, the brother of the victim Marian Shabani, we asked that he extend the hand of reconciliation, also because we could not succeed in persuading him by talking to him on the phone. In the end I asked, I said, “Marian [Mark], the Albanian custom is to open the door to anyone, we are coming tomorrow, we will be in church at 12 o’clock, after church will be at your house, so you should know that we are expected at home. And whether you forgive or not, come to an agreement or not, the custom is that you welcome us in your home, later you decide, we have our words, you, yours.” Later, we went, we met, professor Anton Çetta told us that he had also been to his [Mark’s] brother in Kosovo sometimes, and was not able to find an understanding, and he had not succeeded in reconciling the family in Kosovo.
We discussed with Mark Shabani, and he extended [the hand], but asked for one week to talk to the other part of the family in Kosovo. And after one week, actually after three or four, he called on the phone and said, “I expect you at my home on Saturday.” Then I understood that this was an important job, and I notified Anton Çetta and the group that we would go to Mark Shabani’s, because he had reached an agreement with his brother and he would give the final word.
The audio interview section of Besim Malota telling the story that you just read can be found here.