The Prosecution has requested a sentence of 25 years in prison for Izet Haxhina, former bodyguard of former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, for the murder of former Democratic MP Azem Hajdari on September 12, 1998 outside the blue headquarters building.
After Hajdari’s assassination, Haxhia fled to stay in Turkey for nearly two decades, from where he was extradited on May 8, 2018. Haxhia was arrested by Turkish police in 2006. He sought political asylum in Turkey, arguing that his life was in danger. He was not granted asylum but was granted an indefinite residence permit, provided he did not leave Turkey. For 12 years, the Turkish authorities had refused his transfer to Albania, but in 2018 the Turkish Supreme Court approved the extradition and this decision was accepted by the Turkish Minister of Justice.
The 52-year-old from the village of Babina in Tropoja was sentenced in absentia to 25 years in prison by the Tirana Court for the murder of Hajdari on April 29, 2002. But after extradition from Turkey in 2018, he started the battle with Albanian justice for one of the most sensational of these 30 years, the murder of Azem Hajdari.
The cause was Hajji’s request for retrial. Haxhia, once Berisha’s former bodyguard, sought to face witnesses in court, including former Prime Minister Berisha, to shed light on what he said had not been made public before about the murder. It was the Court of Tirana that rejected the request of the prosecution to force former Prime Minister Berisha to testify in the trial against Haxhia. The prosecution reasoned that based on the way the events unfolded, there is evidence to prove the guilt of Berisha’s former bodyguard. Haxhija’s two brothers, Ismet and Isamedin Haxhia, have also been convicted for the incident, who have already served their sentences.
/abcnews.al
