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Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Albanian smugglers are fighting extradition to Belgian prisons, claiming that the cells are so small and overcrowded that they violate their human rights.
Sabah Zeka, an Albanian who was granted UK citizenship after seeking asylum, faces a 12-year prison sentence in Belgium after being convicted in absentia of belonging to a people smuggling gang.
Members of the group were caught red-handed transporting illegal migrants, including women and children, from Belgium to the UK, charging them £10,000 to sit in the front of the truck and £6,000 to be in the back.
Their hands and feet were wrapped in plastic bags to avoid leaving fingerprints, and those who did not pay were held hostage until they did so.
Zeka, 41, operated as the gang's organiser from his home in Bromley, south London, and has been fighting extradition since his conviction and arrest in May 2022 on a European warrant.
He has claimed that Belgian prisons are so overcrowded that there would be no more than three square meters of space in a cell intended for one person, but which can accommodate up to three.
His lawyers argued that the conditions would violate his rights under article three of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which prohibits torture, inhuman treatment and degrading punishment.
Zeka's case was heard alongside three other suspected criminals who were also seeking to avoid extradition to Belgium due to overcrowded prisons.
They included a Portuguese fraudster facing extradition for four counts of fraud and money laundering, a Romanian sentenced in absentia to 3 years and 4 months in prison for three thefts, and a suspected drug trafficker facing trial for membership in a criminal gang and drug importation.
It follows a series of cases uncovered by The Telegraph in which migrants or convicted foreign criminals have won the right to remain in the UK or have their deportations stopped by citing violations of the ECHR.
Two high court judges, Lord Justice Lewis and Mr Justice Griffiths, dismissed their appeals on the basis that there was “insufficient evidence” to rebut the presumption that Belgium would be able to comply with its obligation under Article 3 of the ECHR.
But the appeal has already delayed Zeka's extradition for at least two years since he was first arrested in the UK on behalf of Belgian authorities.
Even if he does not appeal, a second Albanian smuggler is also challenging his extradition to Belgium for the same reason.
Adriatik Hysenlika is facing extradition to serve a 10-year prison sentence for amassing at least £1m as the head of a trafficking gang. The group smuggled illegal immigrants into the UK in the back of trucks, with the immigrants believed to have paid £23,000 to Hysenlika, from North London.
Following a request from Belgian authorities, who had charged Hysenlik with 60 immigration offenses, he was arrested by the National Crime Agency in August 2024.
According to court documents, he was "the leader of a large-scale criminal organization that used an extensive network."
In addition to overcrowding, the 43-year-old argued that deportation would deny him access to his two-year-old son and therefore violate Article 8 of the ECHR.
Hysenlika arrived in Britain in 1998 after claiming to be persecuted in Albania. /Adapted from Pamphlet/
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