The appeal of the Special Court has upheld the decision of the first instance for the life sentence for Laert Haxhiu.
Haxhiu was found guilty for what is known as the "Lushnja massacre", which ended with the murder of Zamir Latif and Jurgen Hoxha, as well as the wounding of Marjus Xhepexhiu and Bujar Turku.
In the session held, Haxhi's defense lawyer, Detar Hysi, requested the annulment of the first instance decision and the retrial of the case with a new jury, insisting that his client was innocent.
On the other hand, prosecutor Altin Dumani supported the decision of the first instance and asked for the life sentence to be upheld, stressing that the evidence was sufficient to convict Haxhiu. He also made it clear that the existence of a structured criminal group was proven, and that the murders were committed as a result of a conflict between Haxhi and his opponent, Xuljo Shkurti.
According to SPAK, the target of the "Lushnja massacre" was Aldo Bare's nephew, Xjuljo Skurti, who escaped the bullets. Earlier, for the same incident, Anterio Kaloshi and Orges Bilbili, the two close associates of Haxhi, were also sentenced to life imprisonment.
Laert Haxhiu is also involved in other criminal events. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison by the court of Lushnja for another assassination attempt in which several people were injured and again the target of the attack was Xjulio Shkurti.
In the same way, the name of Laert Haxhiu emerged from the testimony of Artan Tafani, who showed that Haxhiu's group organized several murders and some serious criminal events that took place in Tirana, Durrës, Elbasan and Korçë.
In the end, the GJKKO decided to uphold the life sentence for Laert Haxhii, confirming that the evidence was sufficient to prove his guilt.