Medieval canons

The Kanoon, a 15th century code of honour, still governs Albanian society. VAIJU NARAVANE reports that though Albania has adopted a modern penal code, this is often superseded by the age-old practices.

LAST WEEK in Italy a seven-year-old Albanian boy was strangled to death by a 17-year-old disturbed paedophile who quickly owned up to his crime. The boy's weeping parents said the young assassin would be tried and that they would abide by the decision of the Italian court. Frightening, however, were the threats and rumblings which emanated from the large Albanian community in Italy. Many said they would seek their own revenge according to their old code of honour, the Kanoon. ``During the day we pray for our dead son; at night, we kill,'' they said.

When 24-year-old policeman Gjelosh Kola went to arrest Mark Lekoni, already condemned to two long prison sentences, he was accompanied by several of his colleagues in the northern Albanian town of Scutari. But when Lekoni emptied his Kalashnikov into Kola, not one of the other policemen opened fire. The prosecutor of Scutari explained their action: ``This is the land of Kanoon.'' Justice, he said, was expected not from Kola's comrades but from his family which would undertake to ``wash blood with blood'', the only way to punish the assassin.

Mark Lekoni will pay with his life because ``blood follows the pointing finger'' which leaves no doubt about the identity of the killer. But if he manages to get away, any other male from the family will do. Which is why all the males from Lekoni's family live barricaded behind closed doors. Vengeance will not be fully realised with the simple killing of a Lekoni male, however. His house will be burnt, his vines and fruit trees destroyed, so that his entire family is obliged to leave the area.

All this is contained in the Kanoon, the code of honour elaborated by Leke Dukagjinit, companion in arms to Albania's national hero, Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg, who lived in the second half of the 15th century. The norms of the Kanoon, transmitted orally from generation to generation for over 500 years were finally transcribed between 1930 and 1940. A Franciscan monk, Shtejefen Konstantin Gjecov, an intellectual and fervent nationalist born in Kosovo in 1874, meticulously wrote down the Kanoon, basing his text on ancient, fragmented documents and collective memory. He began his labours in 1913, but at his death in 1929, the final text was still not ready. The document as it exists today, based on his notes and writings, was completed by monks from his order and printed between 1933 and 1938.

The Code, an inexact term because Kanoon derives from the Greek `canon' which simultaneously signifies `norm' and `measure', is about all aspects of Albanian society and the relations between its members. Special attention is paid to the Church. Both Skanderbeg and Dukagjinit were Catholic crusaders who freed Albania from Turkish domination while the scribe, Father Gjecov, was a Franciscan monk.

Family matters are high on the list of the Kanoon's priorities. The Code deals with marriage, the duties of the husband, wife and son, cousins and other more distant relatives. The woman ``inherits nothing from her parents, neither material goods nor houses, while her role in the family is superfluous''. The Kanoon goes on to say that ``the woman is like an animal, meant to work as long as she lives in her husband's house''. The Code forbids men from dabbling in sex or women. ``The house of a man (taking a mistress) will be burnt and his lands abandoned. He will be expelled from the village and will be able to return only if he abandons his concubine.''

But the most striking part of the Kanoon, as transcribed by Father Gjecov, is a collection of 1263 ``articles'' making up a penal code which describes crimes and prescribes punishments. ``As soon as a homicide has been committed, the victim's family should be informed so that there is no confusion about the identity of the killer,'' the Kanoon says. After a crime has been committed the Kanoon recommends a ``period of truce, of liberty and security which the victim's family accords the killer's family so that the terms for vengeance can be stabilised''. This is usually done by a council of elders in the village. While the Kanoon says ``blood will follow the pointing finger'', ancient practice has it that vendetta ``extends to all the males of the family of the killer, including infants, cousins and distant relatives''.

There are specific instances when blood revenge is not deemed necessary: If the killer had been insulted or robbed by his victim before the assassination or if the victim had killed or stolen the killer's cattle, for example. If two people are killed as a result of being caught in flagrante delicto in an adulterous relationship, no blood letting is required.

There are countless such examples. The Kanoon holds up a mirror to Albanian society which appears combative and proud but also vindictive, intolerant and irascible. Is this then a reflection of times gone by? Not really. There are hundreds of people in Albania today who live behind closed doors in constant fear for their lives.

Albanian leaders continue to say that they want their country to take its place in the European family of nations. How is it possible to reconcile the structure and demands of a modern democratic society with the tenets of the Kanoon which go back 500 years. Albania has adopted a modern penal code but it is common knowledge that this is often superseded by the age-old practices of the Kanoon.

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