String of Albanian murderers hiding from justice in UK
ALBANIAN police are trying to extradite a string of murderers from the UK, an Interpol chief revealed last night.
The details of Albanian killers believed to be living in the UK have been circulated to British police, he added.
But it is feared many of the men will never face justice because they have assumed false identities.
The revelation comes after the Daily Mail disclosed the scandal of one-legged Albanian Saliman Barci, 41, who is using human rights laws in a bid to avoid being deported to serve a 25-year prison sentence for murdering two men in 1997.
Barci arrived in the UK in 2002 and was awarded British citizenship after falsely claiming to be a refugee from Kosovo.
The cocaine-dealing thug, who adopted a fake name, was held in London in June last year, six years after the Albanian authori- ties say they first requested his arrest over the two murders in his home country.
Barci insists he is innocent of the killings in the northern city of Burrel and has been granted legal aid to fight extradition – despite allegedly confessing to the crimes to his wife. The father of three was convicted of the mur- ders in his absence in 2009. Teno Hodaj, a senior Interpol official in the Albanian capital, Tirana, said police were seeking at least six murderers thought to be living in Britain.
He said that over the past five years, a further six killers had been deported to Albania, to face belated justice.
Mr Hodaj added: ‘The main problem with the UK is that so many Albanian citizens have earned UK citizenship as Kosovo citizens due to the Kosovo war.
‘They have used fake names to get citizenship in the UK. Officials can’t distinguish between Albanians and Kosovars.’
He said the process to get someone arrested for extradition from the UK ‘is too long and gives a suspect time to flee’.
‘I have very good relationships and collaboration with the Metropolitan Police and the Home Office,’ he added. ‘But I think the British courts should have trust in us to deal with the judicial process correctly.
‘It is a real pity that these people can be free because of the procedures in the UK.’
Sabri Kastrati, the prosecutor who brought murder charges against Barci, told the Mail that between 2009 and 2011 he dealt with 20 unsolved murder cases and about 90 per cent of the suspects are in the UK. He added: ‘In 2009 we sent a request for Barci’s extradition to the UK. We asked for his arrest and deportation but nothing happened so the trial continued in his absence.’
Senior legal sources in Tirana said that among those who have been sought for extradition from the UK in recent years are Kadri Hoxha, 56, and Avni Metra, 53, both former residents of Burrel. The men are thought to be living under false identities in Britain and have yet to be found, the sources said.
Last month Justice Secretary Michael Gove said about one in 20 of the 10,000 foreign criminals in British jails was from Albania. Albania’s justice minister, Ylli Manjani, said: ‘Certain British politicians are accusing us of exporting criminals and corruption. What are we supposed to do? Some Albanian citizens are misrepresenting us in the UK, so we are saying “let us deal with them”.
Home Office sources said there were currently six Albanian extradition requests before the UK courts. Of these, two are related to murder charges and both individuals are remanded in custody.