An Albanian man wanted for murder in his own country has won the right to remain in the UK under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Fatmir Bleta, 64, left Albania two months later after allegedly shooting a man in the head with a Kalashnikov rifle; He was convicted of this crime and sentenced in absentia to 13 years in prison.
He came to the UK with his family and applied for asylum, falsely claiming to be from Kosovo; He was sentenced to 33 months and two weeks in prison in 2018 for this scam.
Bleta, who has four children, successfully fended off an attempt by Albania to extradite him to serve the sentence, claiming that he would not be entitled to a retrial and that he was not notified of the hearings in advance.
In a new decision revealed in documents seen by the Telegraph, Bleta managed to resist the Home Office’s attempt to deport him on the grounds that this would breach his Article 6 rights to a fair trial under the ECHR.
Deportation ‘extremely harsh’ on family
He also appealed under Article 8 of the convention, arguing that deportation would violate his right to family life because it would be “unduly harsh” on his loved ones.
The case comes after The Telegraph revealed earlier this week that an Albanian criminal who secretly returned to the UK after being deported had won the right to stay because deporting him would be “unduly harsh” on his family and would breach Article 8 of the ECHR came.
This has sparked fresh calls for the UK to abandon the ECHR or seek reform of it. Former immigration minister and Conservative Party leadership candidate Robert Jenrick said: “Once again the ECHR has been used by activist judges to prioritize the rights of a criminal over the safety of the British public.
“This is a disgrace. We can only remove thousands of dangerous foreign criminals from our country if we do so. Reform is a dream. Either leave or stay; “I am definitely in favor of leave.”
Shadow housing minister and Tory leadership rival Kemi Badenoch said the Government should be prepared to exit the ECHR if necessary, but warned such a move alone would not solve the migrant crisis.
The Telegraph also found that two of Bleta’s children were convicted of drug offenses and jailed. Son Dorian, 37, is serving an 18-year sentence for trafficking cocaine, while daughter Sara, 28, a former actress, was sentenced to four years for supplying class A and B drugs.
Bleta arrived in the UK in 1998 following the alleged murder in September that year and was sentenced to 13 years in prison in December.
According to court documents, he was working as a security guard at a reservoir when he and his colleague were approached by a man they knew.
The colleague allegedly witnessed Bleta point the Kalashnikov at the victim, and the victim told him not to play with the gun. He then pulled the trigger and shot her in the head, documents say.
On arrival in the UK, Bleta falsely claimed to be a Kosovo refugee, and was joined by his wife and children in 2000. Although their asylum requests were rejected, they were given permission to stay indefinitely.
He gained British citizenship in 2017 but was convicted the following year of making false statements to obtain a passport and three other counts of fraud. He was sentenced to 33 months and two weeks in prison.
Judges reject extradition
The judges rejected Albania’s extradition request on the grounds that he had never been arrested and that “there was no evidence to show that he knew or should have known the date and place of the trial and that the trial could proceed in his absence.” ”.
They also acknowledged that there was “sufficient assurance” that Bleta would be retried or subjected to a review that amounted to a retrial; this meant there was a “real risk” that sending him back to Albania would be a “flagrant” violation. The right to a fair trial in Article 6 of the ECHR.
After completing his prison sentence in 2018, the Home Office tried to deport him. His legal team then argued that this would violate the right to family life under the ECHR.
In the last case heard at the top court in September, two judges agreed that Bleta deliberately “did not leave” Albania to avoid a murder trial and “did not have access to a retrial”.
They rejected the Home Office appeal against deportation because they said there was “a real risk that the claimant’s return would constitute a clear breach of Article 6 of the ECHR”.
Contacted by The Telegraph at his home in west London, Bleta admitted coming to the UK in 1999 but denied being convicted of murder. Instead, he claimed in multiple courts that he had been cleared of the crime.
“I am far from everything,” he said. “I have control in the courts, in both courts. You’re wrong, check. “Clean up here, clean up Albania, clean up everything.”
When asked if he openly denied the murder, he replied: “No, no.”
His daughter said: “The facts are completely wrong. My father was cleared for this [the murder]. He was blamed for this and it came out, if you actually look at the papers and documents that I can send you, you’ll see that he was cleared for this.
“He wasn’t even in the country when it happened. “He was not in the country at the time.”
He added: “My father is very ill and the only reason he made the deportation decision was as a result of the Home Office failing to do their job, which caused them so much pain.
“The Royal Court of Justice ruled that my father had no knowledge of any crime being committed and he was therefore acquitted.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “It would be inappropriate to comment while legal proceedings are ongoing.”