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Sentenced to 16 years in prison for the murder of Armand Beqiraj in Iceland, the Albanian is released after 5 years and deported to Albania

2026-08-15 13:06:32Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Angjelin Sterkaj, who was sentenced to 16 years in prison by the Supreme Court of Iceland in 2023 for the murder of Armando Beqiraj outside his home in Reykjavík in 2021, has now been released on bail and deported from the country. He has been banned from returning to Iceland and the Schengen area.

The news was confirmed by the director of prisons, Ragna Bjarnadóttir, Visir reports. Sterkaj's deportation is based on a recent temporary change to the law, approved by the Minister of Justice, which allows foreign prisoners who have been ordered to be deported from the country to be granted conditional release after serving a third of their sentence.

Ragna says he cannot comment on individual cases, but explains that the general rule is that, when this temporary option is used, prisoners are escorted to their country of origin by the National Police's return and escort unit, after the Prison Service has made the decision on conditional release and the Immigration Directorate has made the decision on deportation and prohibition of return.

In the most serious violations, the Directorate of Immigration has the right to impose a permanent ban on persons from returning to the entire Schengen area. Angjelini is from Albania, which is not part of the Schengen area. Regarding the decision of the Prison Service on conditional release, it says that the general rules for conditional release apply and the decision is made after an overall assessment. This assessment includes many factors, for example, behavior while serving the sentence and the assessment of dangerousness.

Angjelin was sentenced to 16 years in prison by the Supreme Court on June 21, 2023. This sentence was reduced by the period of uninterrupted pre-trial detention, starting on February 17, 2021. Angjelin Sterkaj was then sentenced to 16 years in prison by the Supreme Court for the murder of Armando Beqiraj in front of his house in February 2021. Three of his accomplices were sentenced to between three and ten years in prison. Thus, he spent 855 days in pre-trial detention and has served 1,149 days in prison. 

This makes a total of 2,004 days, or 5 years, 5 months and 28 days, behind bars for the murder of Beqiraj. One third of a 16-year sentence is 1,947 days. In addition to Angjelin, four of his associates also received sentences from the High Court. Claudia Carvalho was sentenced to three years in prison, Murat Selivrada to four years and Shpetim Qerimi received a ten-year sentence. In the Court of Appeal they were found guilty of collaborating with Angjelin in the murder and were sentenced to 14 years in prison each.

In 2021, before Angjelin's name was reported by the media, it was reported that Armando's killer was wanted by Albanian authorities for armed robbery and had been for years. In 2015, Albanian authorities had requested the extradition of an Albanian to serve a sentence based on a criminal conviction he received in Albania for robbery. However, their request was rejected in 2017, as it did not meet the requirements of the Act on Extradition and Other Assistance in Criminal Matters and international agreements to which Iceland is a party.

Ragna says, in general terms, that the procedure related to parole and deportation under the emergency release authorization had nothing to do with extradition. Thus, the process is not relevant whether the prisoner in question is wanted in his country of origin or has outstanding criminal convictions there. Angjelini was still wanted in Albania in 2021, but Vísi is not aware of the statute of limitations in that country. Therefore, it is not clear whether he will be able to escape freely after deportation.

Regarding the murder, Sterkaj said that he committed it for personal reasons after being threatened by Beqiri and that no other person was involved in the incident. In addition to the prison sentence, the court ruled that Angjelin Sterkaj should pay compensation to Beqiri's wife and his parents.

Armando Beqiri was executed with a silenced pistol on February 13 at the door of his house, at around 23:57, as he had just returned home and parked his car. Beqiri had lived in Iceland for years and was the owner of a physical security company, which in a very short time had achieved immediate success. The 33-year-old from Tepelena left behind his pregnant wife and a young son, who were at home when he was shot.

Angjelin Sterkaj was hiding in a garage and when Armando came out of the garage near his house, after parking the car, he was shot 9 times in the body and head with a 22-caliber Sig Sauer pistol. In Albania, Sterkaj was wanted for theft and violence.


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