200 Albanian Prisoners Sent Back to Homeland to Serve out Sentences

Family of victim would be allowed to veto transfer of killer

An undated image of Koci Selamaj, who was jailed for life for the murder of Sabina Nessa at the Old Bailey in London on April 8, 2022. (Metropolitan Police)

Around 200 Albanian nationals serving sentences in overcrowded prisons in England and Wales will be sent back to Tirana to serve the rest of their sentences in their home country.

The Epoch Times understands Koci Selamaj—who was jailed for a minimum of 36 years for the September 2021 murder of Sabina Nessa in south east London—could be eligible for the scheme, but only if her family agree to him being transferred.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said Albanian nationals serving sentences of four years or more will be sent back but last year The Epoch Times reported how Hekuran Billa—who was convicted of murder in London in 2008 and ordered to spend 34 years in prison—had been released in 2019 by an Albanian judge. He was subsequently murdered in Tirana.

The MoJ said the funding would not be paid up front but on a results basis and it is understood this is designed to ensure convicts serve out their full sentence and are not released early.

The Epoch Times understands that upon arriving in Albania, each prisoner would undergo a sentencing exercise which would convert their British sentences to the equivalent terms under Albanian law.

‘Will Save Taxpayers Money’

On Wednesday Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said: “Today we announced a new partnership with Albania that will return 200 foreign national offenders to their home country. This landmark package will speed up removals and save the taxpayer money while improving Albanian prisons.”

Some of the money saved on housing the prisoners—estimated at £46,696 per year—will be spent helping Albania to modernise its prison system.

The cost of housing prisoners in Albania is around a third of the cost of housing an inmate in England or Wales.

The MoJ said the deal would “free up” space in prisons in England and Wales and double the number of offenders without UK citizenship removed annually.

Around 14 percent of the foreign nationals in English and Welsh prisons are Albanians, making them the biggest contingent.

Earlier this week justice minister Lord Bellamy, KC, told Parliament jails were at 99 percent capacity and getting “quite tight.”

Chalk said: “The public expects that foreign criminals should serve their sentences overseas—not in our prisons at the expense of the taxpayer. This deal will speed up the removal of these offenders and give victims confidence that serious criminals will continue to face justice and spend the remainder of their sentence behind bars. Collaboration with our international partners is an essential part of making this possible,” he added.

Albanians to Serve Sentences ‘Near Their Families’

The Albanian justice minister, Ulsi Manja, said: “At its core, every Albanian convict in the United Kingdom shall be given the opportunity to serve the remaining sentence in Albania, near their families, while we also increase our efforts to ensure the modernisation of the Albanian penitentiary system.”

The MoJ said the Albanian deal would cost them £8 million over two years, equating to £32 per prisoner per day, compared to £109 per day to house them in prisons in England and Wales.

The 1984 Repatriation of Prisoners Act allowed for inmates in British prisons to be sent back to their home country and also for British nationals abroad to be returned to the UK to serve out their sentences.

Under the act, the UK has to sign a separate Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA) with each country’s government.

Between April 27, 2021 and April 27, 2023, the government repatriated 112 inmates under PTAs.

In 2007 Hansard listed all the countries which Britain had a PTA with and it included Albania, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, Egypt, Israel, Mexico, Nicaragua, Thailand, Ukraine, Hong Kong, and the United States.

The most notable omissions were Russia, Iran, and China.

Undated image of Hekuran Billa, who was convicted in 2008 of a murder in London. (Metropolitan Police)

Last year the Prison Service revealed, following a Freedom of Information Act request from The Epoch Times (pdf), that 435 foreign nationals were given life sentences between 2011 and 2019, all but seven of which were for murder.

In 2006, Billa shot dead a fellow Albanian, Prel Marku, at a social club in Park Royal, west London.

He fled to Denmark but was extradited and in 2008 he was convicted and jailed for life with the judge stipulating he should serve at least 34 years in prison, meaning he was not eligible for release until 2042.

Billa was sent back to Albania to serve the rest of his sentence, but in February 2019 he was released by a judge.

The following year Billa, by then 40, was shot dead at the office of his car rental business in Tirana, Albania.

Two men, Viktor Marku—whose brother Prel was murdered by Billa—and Sebastian Mali, who is also understood to be a relative of Prel Marku, were accused of his murder but charges were dropped in 2021.