Mahmut Bakalli

Mahmut Bakalli
Presidentof theProvincial Committee of the League of Communists of Kosovo
In office 28 June 1971 – 6 May 1981
Preceded by	Veli Deva
Succeeded by	Veli Deva
Personal details
Born	(1936-01-19)19 January 1936 Gjakova,Yugoslavia (now Gjakova, Kosovo)
Died	14 April 2006(2006-04-14)(aged 70) Pristina,Serbia and Montenegro (now Kosovo)
Political party	Alliance for the Future of Kosovo(from 2001) League of Communists of Kosovo(until 1989)
Alma mater	University of Belgrade
Profession	Sociologist, Politician

Mahmut Bakalli^[a](19 January 1936 – 14 April 2006) was aKosovarAlbanianpolitician.

Bakalli began his political career in the youth organization of theLeague of Communists of Kosovo,eventually becoming its leader in 1961. In 1967, he became head of the party's Prishtina chapter. As he rose through the ranks, he was elected to the Central Committee of the party'sSerbian chapter,and to the Presidium of theLeague of Communists of Yugoslavia's Central Committee.

Bakalli led the Communist Party in Kosovo during the late 1970s and early 1980s, but resigned after disagreeing with the way the1981 protests by ethnic Albanian studentswere handled by Kosovo's own police, headed byRahman Morina.Bakalli then spent two years under house arrest, before being expelled from the party. He was after that allowed to work in the province's Science Association until retirement, but was forced out whenSlobodan Miloševićincreased Serbian control over Kosovo in the late 1980s.

He was a member of theAssembly of Kosovofrom 2001. He also worked as an adviser to prime ministerAgim Çeku.He graduated from theUniversity of Belgrade's Faculty of Political Science.

In 2002, Bakalli was the first witness to testify atThe HagueInternational Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslaviaat thetrial of Slobodan Milošević.

Bakalli succumbed tothroat canceron April 14, 2006, at the age of 70 following a prolonged treatment. He was survived by his wife and three daughters.

Notes

a.	^Albanian spelling:Mahmut Bakalli,Serbo-Croatspelling: Махмут Бакали,Mahmut Bakali.

External links

• BBC report on Bakalli's testimony against Slobodan Milošević
• ObituaryinThe Independent