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Court rejects request of convicted person for Qafë-Gjashtës Massacre, Greece does not extradite him

2025-04-15 23:26:13 / AKTUALITET ALFA PRESS

Court rejects request of convicted person for Qafë-Gjashtës Massacre,

The Saranda Court has rejected the request of 55-year-old Aleksandër Bala for the statute of limitations on the criminal verdict. The 55-year-old is sentenced to 15 years in prison for the "Qafë-Gjashtës Massacre".

Bala initially addressed the Saranda Court with a request, referring to Albanian legislation that provides that "The sentencing decision is not executed when ten years have passed from the day it became final for a decision containing a sentence of five to fifteen years of imprisonment."

The Saranda Court referred the case to the GJKKO for lack of jurisdiction, and the latter to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court then referred the case back to the Saranda Court, writes balkanweb. On April 14, the Saranda Court decided to finally reject Bala's request because, according to it, the statute of limitations for the sentence should not be 15, but 20 years, and the date for the final decision should be that of the Supreme Court and not the Court of Appeal.

“…given the fact that the sentence of 15 years of imprisonment as sentenced to the applicant Aleksandër Bala is included in letter “a” of Article 68 of the Criminal Code for the purpose of the statute of limitations on its execution, (ii) taking into account that the decision to sentence the applicant Aleksandër Bala became final on 13.4.2014, it clearly results that the 20-year period required by law to establish the statute of limitations on the execution of the sentence has not passed and therefore the request is unfounded in law and evidence, and as such must be dismissed,” the Court states.

Aleksander Bala, known as Aleko or Leku, the owner of a private parking lot in Saranda, was declared wanted by the police in November 2017 after a major police operation to execute arrest warrants for the perpetrators of the “Qafë-Gjashtës Massacre”. They were accused of having killed and burned police officer Gjergj Mehmeti on March 4, 1997, held hostage and tortured officer Eduard Aliaj, and attempted to kill police officers Sokol Bizhga and Myzafer Blushi.

Vladimir and Nestor Sinani, Alqi Paguni, Eduart Çipa and Edmond Sejko were arrested for the incident in question, and many others were declared wanted. Of all the accused, only the Sinani brothers served their sentence and have now been released from prison, as Çipa was declared innocent by the Court of Appeal and Sejko was convicted only for illegal possession of weapons. Agron Qurku, Aleksandër Bala, Arben Këndezi, Mikel Këndezi and Alqi Paguni continue to be wanted.

It is worth noting that all the wanted persons were arrested at different times by the Greek police, but the courts of this country have not accepted to extradite them. Among the wanted persons who have not been extradited is Agron Qurku, who, in addition to the Qafë-Gjashtë massacre, has also been convicted of bank robberies, assault, kidnapping, etc.

Reason for non-extradition from Greece

In its latest decision, the Saranda Court has revealed to the public for the first time the reason for not extraditing Bala. In fact, confidential sources indicate that the same reason is suspected to have been used by others wanted for the Qafë-Gjashtës Massacre, as they are all hiding in Greece and have all been arrested and released there.

“On 17.2.2014, Interpol Athens/Greece informs the Interpol National Central Office Tirana that the convicted person Aleksandër Bala has been arrested in the Piraeus/Athens area, for the purpose of continuing extradition procedures.

Legal procedures continued through the Ministry of Justice, which, after receiving all the necessary documentation related to the applicant Aleksandër Bala, continued the official procedures for his extradition.

Through letter no. 176/5 prot, dated 30.5.2024, the Ministry of Justice forwards to the General Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, decision no. 6/2014, dated 11.4.2014 of the Council of the Court of Appeal of Piraeus, Greece, on the refusal to extradite the convicted Aleksandër Bala. The Council of the Court of Appeal of Piraeus has refused to extradite the convicted Aleksandër Bala, as according to them there was a possibility that he would be prosecuted by the Albanian state for another criminal offense, different from those for which extradition was requested and which was related to the national or religious activity that Aleksandër Bala carried out during the riots of 1997-1998 for the preservation of homogeneous and Christian members in Albania.

In October 2011, the Court of Appeal for Serious Crimes issued these final sentences for the Qafë-Gjashtë Massacre, which were upheld by the Supreme Court:

Vladimir Sinani, 18 years
Nestor Sinani, 15 years in prison
Eduard Çipa, 15 years in prison
Alqi Paguni, 15 years in prison
Mikel (Flamur, Vladimir) Kendezi, 15 years in prison
Arben Kendezi, 16 years in prison
Agron Qurku, 16 years in prison
Aleksandër Bala 15 years in prison

 

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