The appeal confirmed 16 years in prison for Mario Përlleshaj, Martin Can's father reacts: We wanted a harsher sentence, but...

 

The Court of Appeal has announced the verdict for Mario Përlleshaj, accused of the murder of 14-year-old Martin Cani two years ago near the "Fan Noli" school in Tirana.

The appeal upheld the decision of the Court of First Instance, which had sentenced Përlleshaj to 16 years in prison for the serious incident that occurred in Tirana.

But for Engjëllin, Martin Can's father, the pain remains. In a statement to the media after the hearing, he stated that they are not satisfied with the author's sentence, as they claimed more.

"What happened to us should not happen to anyone. Our pain is very great. Laws are laws, but we claimed a greater punishment. The punishment is for 2 criminal offenses. A young man can kill 50 people today with a bomb, and is sentenced to 12 years in prison. As you know, there are 2 qualifying circumstances. Thank God there were no other children there. As for the perpetrator, Luis was dead, while he killed Martin with a knife in the heart. Our pain is very great," he said.

 The serious event of 2024 and the Appeals decision

The Court of Appeals has today (July 15) upheld the decision to sentence Mario Përlleshaj to 16 years in prison, who stabbed his peer Martin Cani to death in 2024.

In June, the Court of Appeal reopened the investigation and ordered psychological reports for the perpetrator and the minor who was injured during the fight between several people.

In December 2025, Përlleshaj was found guilty of the criminal offenses of "murder in other aggravating circumstances" against Martin Cani and "murder in other aggravating circumstances, attempted" against the other minor who was injured.

The serious incident occurred on November 18, 2024, following a conflict between two teenagers that had started three days earlier at school.

After class, the fight ended with Martin being killed, his friend injured, and the perpetrator self-injuring. Investigations confirmed that only one knife was used in the incident.

The case caused a huge public outcry, protests about school safety, and then led to the government's decision to shut down TikTok for a year.