Accused of two murders, England says "NO" to Ilirjan Zeqaj's extradition

The High Court in London has decided not to extradite Ilirian Zeqaj, a 52-year-old man accused of a double murder in Albania about 30 years ago, describing the trial against him as a flagrant violation of human rights.

Zeqaj, who has lived in the United Kingdom under a false identity since 1999, is accused by Albanian authorities of murdering two men in the late 1990s, charges he denies.

In their ruling on Wednesday, Lord Justice Popplewell and Mr Justice Saini ordered Zeqaj's release, saying he would face an unfair trial in Albania. They noted that the decision to retry the case was made by a panel of judges who were later removed from office for failing in the vetting process, making their decision uncertain and not impartial.

The judges also assessed that Zeqaj's lack of legal representation at the hearing where the retrial was decided was unfair and detrimental to his defense, while emphasizing that the retrial is a delay without a clear deadline, although it has already begun in 2020.

Zeqaj arrived in Britain in 1999 and applied for asylum under a false Kosovar name, saying it would increase his chances of protection. In Albania, he was convicted in absentia in 2002 of murder and possession of military weapons. He was extradited in 2013, but was acquitted on appeal and returned to Britain in 2014.

In 2017, an Albanian court overturned his acquittal and ordered a retrial, without Zeqaj or his lawyer present. After that, Albanian authorities requested extradition for a second time, which was initially approved in 2024 by a British court and confirmed by the Home Office.

But with the latest decision, the extradition was definitively blocked, with the Supreme Court finding that the process against him in Albania is in clear violation of international standards of justice, TCH reports .

In March 2023, Ilirian Zeqaj was sentenced to 20 years in prison by the Fier Court, where he was found guilty of the serious incident that occurred in September 1998, in which the brothers Gramos and Shkëlqim Llanaj were killed.

It is about a chain of executions carried out in the village of Cakran, a saga that began with the murder of a 9-year-old child.

The perpetrator of the murder of the child Đengjëllush Zeqaj was Santiliano Llanaj, the nephew of the two victims Ilirjan alias Leonard Llanaj and Gramoz Llanaj, who was a police officer in 1998. Santiliano was arrested at the time of the crime and later convicted by the court.

But, just three days after this serious crime, the two brothers Ilirjan Zeqaj and Jetnor Zeqaj set up an ambush with an automatic rifle and a light machine gun, executing Santiliano Llanaj's two uncles, citizens Gramoz and Shkëlqim Llanaj, in the middle of the road.

For the serious crime, which occurred 24 years ago, the police at that time were only able to arrest Jetnor Zeqaj, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison.