The former leader of the Durrës gang, Lulzim Berisha, is afraid of being extradited to Albania: They might kill me

Lulzim Berisha, one of the fugitives most wanted by the Albanian authorities for allegedly planning and ordering the murder of three people in 2005 in two attacks, has asked the National Court this Tuesday not to hand him over to his country for to be judged.

Berisha, write the Spanish media , fears for his life because he expects a possible revenge for past actions. This is what he said in response to questions from his defense at the extradition hearing, in which the Prosecutor's Office requested his handover so that Albania could try him for those two attacks, but not to serve a sentence of more than 6 years.

He is accused of committing 5 murders.

In its statement of provisional conclusions, collected by Europa Press, the Prosecutor's Office recalled that the defendant, who was arrested in 2023 in Alicante, at the beginning of February 2005 "was responsible for finding suitable persons due to their social and family ties to physically eliminate" a man, "for which he had the help of three people who carried out the action on February 26, 2005 around 10:00 p.m.

He was on the Tirana-Durres highway, near the city of Koxhaj, when the three people shot him while he was driving his vehicle. As a result of the shooting, the victim died, falling into the road canal, where one of the perpetrators shot him again", says the Prosecutor's Office. Lulzim Berisha, "after planning and organizing the murder, left Albania and returned a few days after the event", the letter explains.

On February 27 of the same year, in the same city, an explosion occurred in the elevator cabin of a building in Tirana, the capital of the country. As a result, two citizens lost their lives. The prosecution clarifies that in reality this explosion was planned by Berisha and that "the activation of the explosive was done through the mobile phone".

"The evidence shows that the defendant and three other people, after taking the explosive material and preparing it by placing a telephone device that was used to activate it, made it available to another person to carry out the explosion at that moment. More appropriate, "he concludes.

As explained by the National Police at the time of his arrest in Alicante, the two attacks were a settlement of scores between rival clans that took place in 2005 and were resolved 15 years later.

AN ENTREPRENEUR AFRAID OF REVENGE

This Tuesday, and after making it clear that he did not want to be extradited, he insisted that his main fear now is that he fears for his life after returning to Albania, because he has suffered up to four attacks. his house was hit by an anti-tank and he suffered bodily injuries.

He described himself as an entrepreneur and regretted that his family had to flee to Sweden for fear of reprisals. On the other hand, he has shown that he can partially benefit from an amnesty law approved in his country, that the Albanian Prosecutor's Office has requested the closure of the investigations related to the bomb attack in the elevator and that he has requested asylum in Spain. The Prosecutor of the National Court, for her part, has affirmed in her report and pointed out in relation to the request not to hand over due to the risk to life that she was only handed a document from 2015 that alludes to that risk, but out of prison.

So, it is understood that there is no rational fear in the case when it is left in the hands of the bodies of the requesting state. Regarding the possible retaliation claimed by the defense, he explained that this possibility "is a common human feeling in most cultures", but clarified that it is contradictory for him to claim this and at the same time asked for his removal from early from prison.

In its report, the defense objected to the extradition and focused on the "chaos" with which Albania made the request for extradition. On the other hand, he emphasized that if the Chamber feels that his client's life is in danger, he should not surrender. And he recalled that there are police reports that indicate that he may be the object of revenge for past events. "They threw grenades at him, they wanted to kill him, they planted bombs...", he explained, ending by requesting that the National Court act as proxy justice for him to serve his sentence in this country.

And he recalled that there are police reports that indicate that he may be the object of revenge for past events. "They threw grenades at him, they wanted to kill him, they planted bombs...", he explained, ending by requesting that the National Court act as proxy justice for him to serve his sentence in this country.

And he recalled that there are police reports that indicate that he may be the object of revenge for past events. "They threw grenades at him, they wanted to kill him, they planted bombs...", he explained, ending by requesting that the National Court act as proxy justice for him to serve his sentence in this country.