FLASH
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A blunder by former Secretary of State Yvette Cooper, exploited to the maximum extent by defense lawyers at the Court of Appeal in London, could not free Albanian fugitive Edmond Haxhia and the 4 Britons accused of being involved in the murder of Ardian Nikulaj from prison.
For the second day at the Court of Appeal in London, on Friday, the request of the defense of Edmond Haxhië and four Britons to block their extradition to Albania, as accused of the murder of Ardian Nikulaj in 2023, was reviewed.
It is learned that Edmond Haxhi's defense lawyer used as an extradition blocking card a mistake by former Secretary of State Yvette Cooper, who signed off on their extradition based on previous charges and not those reviewed and approved in August 2024 by the Westminster Extradition Court.
Endmond Haxhi’s lawyer told Mr Justice Swift: “I find it disturbing in this case that there is no explanation from the Secretary of State as to why this happened. Carelessness? Such carelessness is disturbing, isn’t it? This is not a difficult exercise. I made the suggestion that perhaps the Secretary of State should have read the judge’s decision when she granted the extradition. She didn’t need to do that, but at least she should have understood that the charges had changed.”
If the appeal judge Mr. Justice Swift were to accept this defense argument, then Edmond Haxhia and the 4 Britons would be automatically released today, rejecting the Albanian state's request for their extradition.
But that did not happen. Mr. Justice Swift has withdrawn a decision to be published in the coming weeks which means that those wanted with arrest warrants issued by the Lezha Prosecutor's Office, arrested in England, will remain in prison except for Harriet Bridgeman, who is free on bail, under police protection at a secret address.
On Thursday, David Ball, the representative of the Albanian state in this process, rejected all claims by the defense not to extradite Edmond Haxhia along with the Britons Thomas Mithan, Harriet Bridgeman, Harry Simpson, Edmond Haxhia and Steven Hund.
According to the Lezha Prosecution Office, Edmon Haxhia is accused of being the organizer of the murder of Ardian Nikulaj.
While the four British are accused of coming as a surveillance group, providing information to Ruben Saraiva, who is already under indictment and on trial in the Lezha Court for murder.
Another blocking argument of the defense was that even though the Albanian state, with the signature of former Minister of Justice Ulsi Manja, guaranteed that they would not be accused of blood feuds that provide for life imprisonment, this, according to the defense, is not enough since judges are independent and cannot be influenced by government guarantees./ TCH
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