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Azizi told the court that he was shot multiple times (around 30 bullets) during an assassination attempt in 2020, and for this reason was forced to leave Albania and go to Britain.
The well-known underworld figure, Irfan Azizi, is attempting to block his extradition from Great Britain to Albania, claiming that his life is in danger from a possible second assassination attempt organized by Talo Çela.
Azizi told the court that he was shot multiple times (around 30 bullets) during an assassination attempt in 2020, and for this reason was forced to leave Albania and go to Britain.
The 36-year-old said the criminal group that attempted to kill him “also carried out assassinations on judges and politicians” and would seek revenge if he returned to Albania. He has currently sought asylum in the United Kingdom with his wife, while they were previously accommodated in a taxpayer-funded hotel.
Westminster Magistrates' Court heard that Azizi is wanted in Albania to serve a one-year prison sentence, having been convicted in absentia for possession of a mobile phone while in custody for other offences.
During an unusual exchange, Azizi admitted that he had paid the judge in Albania to close the case and suggested that this meant he was no longer a wanted person.
Court records in Britain show that Azizi and another Albanian were each sentenced to six months in prison at Swindon Crown Court in April 2025 for using fake German patents.
Azizi also has a long criminal history in Albania, including involvement in illegal gambling networks.
In February 2019 he was sentenced to two years in prison for theft, while in June of that same year he received another sentence of two years and three months for stealing a Mercedes-Benz B-Class vehicle.
However, just five months later he was released and returned to everyday life.
The assassination attempt on him occurred on November 29, 2020. He said he had seen a vehicle stop near a gas station, from which a person armed with a Kalashnikov emerged.
"They started shooting at me, about 30 bullets. One bullet hit my hand, breaking it in 13 places," he told the court.
The organizer of the assassination has been widely reported in Albanian media as Talo Çela, a former close friend of Aziz and currently one of the most wanted persons in Albania.
Çela is suspected of having links to the Çopja criminal group, a major cocaine supplier in London.
Azizi, the son of a farmer, said he left Albania by bus five weeks after the attack and arrived in Britain a few days later.
He initially stayed with friends and a cousin, before settling in Sheffield in September 2021, where his wife joined him.
Azizi claimed that in Albania he had been a "wealthy businessman", with three gas stations, car washes and a coffee bar.
After his wife arrived in Britain, the couple sought asylum, arguing that they feared persecution in their home country, and were accommodated in a hotel for asylum seekers in Wiltshire. They then moved to Taunton, where they currently live with their four children, who receive support from local authorities.
Azizi stated in court that he had paid to close the phone case, but insisted that he had done nothing wrong.
"This is a method where you pay to close the case. I didn't cheat, I corrupted. If there's a prison sentence and you want to get it overturned, you pay," he said.
He added that he would cooperate with the investigation into the assassination attempt against him and would return to Albania to testify, but only if the main perpetrator is arrested and charged.
According to him, he has already given full evidence to Albanian prosecutors. During cross-examination, legal representative Mr. Ball suggested that Aziz was exaggerating the power of the criminal group that attempted to kill him, stressing that he had not received any threats during his five years in Britain.
He added that neither Aziz's wife nor four children were threatened while they lived in Albania, before joining him in September 2021.
"If you think this group is so powerful, why haven't you been threatened since then?"
"You say they have the power to kill people internationally, yet there is no evidence that they have threatened you," he added.
Azizi replied: "These people committed murders on the orders of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Interior. I have proof."
They don't warn you when they're going to kill you, they just come. The first time they came to shoot me, they didn't warn me.
I can go and testify, but I'm afraid for my family and wife.
"If I return to Albania, they will kill me, and to prevent this from happening, I will be forced to kill them, and I don't want to commit a crime while defending myself."
The court heard that extradition would have serious consequences for Aziz's wife, while the legal representative argued that they still risk deportation if the asylum application is rejected.
Meanwhile, the court hearing continues, while the decision is expected to determine whether "Fania" will return to Albania to face justice or will remain in Britain in the status of an asylum seeker. / Taken and adapted from "Daily Mail"
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