FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
An Albanian, who has had 5 international arrest warrants issued against him, while being sentenced by Italian authorities to 11 years in prison for being involved in a drug trafficking and prostitution gang, is waging a legal battle in the United Kingdom to prevent him from leaving the island.
During a court hearing, he claimed that extradition from the UK to Italy would damage his sons' chances of becoming Premier League footballers.
Elis Lila , 40, has been living in the UK since 2016, after arriving illegally.
Before the UK, he lived in the Italian city of Pesaro, near Rimini, where he spent six years involved in a drug smuggling gang.
He was sentenced by Italian courts in 2012 to 11 years in prison for drug trafficking. He returned to Albania before embarking on the journey to Britain, and did not serve any part of his sentence.
Lila was granted leave to remain in the UK for two and a half years. He works as a self-employed tiler and has three children. Two of his sons play for Watford FC, who currently play in the Championship.
The eldest son is said to be "on the verge" of receiving a football scholarship at a Premier League club, although both children have good prospects of becoming professional footballers, the court was told.
Lila has spent the last four years fighting against his deportation to Italy and has tried to use Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) which protects his right to a family life.
He claimed that his sons' chances of becoming professional footballers would be hampered if he were extradited to Italy to serve a prison sentence for drug-related offences.
In 2021, a district judge at Westminster Magistrates' Court ordered Lila to be extradited to Italy under five European Arrest Warrants. Lila appealed the decision and a second extradition hearing was held in 2024, where another district judge again ordered him deported to Italy.
He was granted the right to appeal the decision, and a hearing in the Supreme Court took place in March.
Judge Mould's report after the appeal says Lila has had a stable life with his family since his arrival in the UK in 2016.
"He was a young man in his 20s when he committed those crimes. He is now a married man in his 40s, supporting a family with three children," the report said.
He has lived a stable life with his family since his arrival in the UK. He has built a business in the UK that enables him to support his family financially.
There is a very real risk that, if extradited to Italy, after serving his sentence, the appellant will not be allowed to return to live in the United Kingdom.
"The prospects of the older boys as potential professional footballers and the practical problems that would result from the appellant's absence were apparent to the district judges and formed part of the overall assessment of proportionality."
But, dismissing his appeal and upholding the extradition orders, Justice Mould stressed that Lila was fully aware of the extradition proceedings against him before starting a family life and moving to the UK.
He states that “I am convinced that the appellant had no illusions when he came to the United Kingdom in 2016 that he faced the real risk of proceedings requiring his return to Italy to serve his outstanding prison sentences.”
The court heard that their eldest son is a talented young football player who undoubtedly has a bright future, as this is a possible career for him, and Lila arranged his work around his wife's job so that he could pick the children up from school and take them to football.
The judge said that “I have no doubt that this was extremely difficult for the Appellant’s wife and children, but it shows the strength of his wife’s character and her amazing resilience and determination as a person and as a mother.”
During these three years, when she was undoubtedly at her weakest, his wife built a life in the United Kingdom for herself and her children, without any financial assistance from the Appellant and while he was in Albania, and therefore, emotional support would have been somewhat limited.
The judge added that “unfortunately, emotional distress is not uncommon in extradition cases.”
Regarding taking the children to soccer, especially the son, as well as to school and other activities, the judge said the woman will "find a way to make this work." /Adapted from Pamphlet/
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