Escaping for more than 26 years has saved 51-year-old Sokol Hoxha from serving his sentence in Albania, extradited from the US in August of this year for the murder of two brothers, Hektor and Ilirjan Banaj, in 1997 in Patos.
However, Sokol Hoxha will continue to remain in prison on behalf of the Belgian authorities, where he has been under security guard since October 8. In Belgium, Hoxha was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Albanian Brunilda Dervishi in 1997 after he had fled Albania. The decision became final in 2010.
After arriving in Albania, where he was to serve a 25-year prison sentence, Hoxha requested his release on the grounds that the sentence had been prescribed, and the Fier Court accepted his request with a decision today. The Prosecution also agreed.
The decision of the Fier Court is based on Article 68 of the Criminal Code, according to which sentences of 15 to 25 years in prison are not executed if 20 years have passed since the decision became final.
Hoxha was convicted in absentia by the Fier Court in 2000, but the sentence was not executed for 26 years. By accepting the request for the statute of limitations, the 51-year-old has settled his score with Albanian justice, as this was the only sentence he had to serve in our country.
Sokol Hoxha was arrested in Ohio, USA, in May, after a nearly three-decade fugitive, during which he lived under the identity Hysen Gashi. The arrest was made thanks to the cooperation of law enforcement agencies in Albania, Belgium and the USA, as part of Operation “Globe”.
