Albanian assassin who posted TikToks from British jail begging to be despatched house is FINALLY set for deportation – in scheme costing taxpayers £4million-a-year
An Albanian murderer who shared TikToks from his British jail cell begging to be sent home is finally set for deportation as part of an £4million-a-year prisoner transfer scheme.
Eugert Merizaj was handed a 32-year sentence in May 2022 for the shotgun killing of rival drug dealer Hemawand Ali Hussein and has been locked up at HMP Manchester, where he regularly livestreams from his cell in breach of prison rules.
In one clip posted in August, Merizaj confirmed he had applied to be transferred to Albania as part of a deal struck in 2023.
Under the agreement, Britain is expected to pay Albania £4million a year to repatriate 200 of its most dangerous criminals, who have been jailed for offences including murder, rape, burglary, and drug dealing.
However, the scheme has been dogged by delays, and a source at the Albanian Prison Service told the Mail that only 11 Albanian prisoners have been transferred so far.
On November 11, a judge sitting in the southern Albanian city of Fier accepted Merizaj’s application and recognised the prison sentence given by the English court.
While he can now be returned, 15 more Albanian murderers who were eligible for the scheme are still in British prisons – including Koci Selamaj, the sexual predator who killed schoolteacher Sabina Nessa.
Eugert Merizaj was jailed for the shotgun killing of rival drug dealer Hemawand Ali Hussein and has been locked up at HMP Manchester. His livestreams show him in designer gear
In the latest video, shot last night, Merizaj was seen moaning about spending ‘four days locked in’ with ‘no one opening our doors’
It costs more than £53,000 a year to keep an inmate in jail. Violent inmates also pose a security risk, with Selamaj sentenced to an additional four and half years in 2024 for stabbing a prison guard.
Despite his impending transfer, Eugert Merizaj still remains at HMP Manchester, which is also known as Strangeways.
Although using a mobile phone behind bars is illegal, the thug has been livestreaming on TikTok since 2023 – with guards apparently unable to stop him.
In his latest video, shot on Thursday night, Merizaj was seen moaning about spending ‘four days locked in’ with ‘no one opening our doors’.
In an earlier TikTok chat discussing the possibility of being sent back to Albania, Merizaj listed his grievances with the British prison system.
He said: ‘Maybe I won’t have a phone there in an Albanian prison, but I know I can get one. I haven’t seen my family in seven years. I talk to them every day, but I haven’t physically met them.
‘The food in this prison is terrible. You can’t even speak Albanian here – only English. I think… you never know, maybe it’ll be worse in Albania. But the main reason I want to go back is to see my family. That’s what matters most.’
Merizaj first has filmed himself earning cash by winning online games and soliciting donations from viewers.
Merizaj in a photo showing him vaping outside his cell and boasting he is ‘stronger than ever’
Merizaj’s social media content suggests he is enjoying a comfortable lifestyle, with a video from his cell at HMP Manchester last year revealing a TV, speaker and games console as well as an array of books in his native language
In another video, he was seen beating a fellow Albanian at a game, prompting him to slap himself in the face, smear himself with Nutella, and shave his head.
Merizaj’s social media content suggests he is enjoying a comfortable lifestyle, with his previous videos revealing a TV, speaker and games console as well as an array of books in his native language.
He has also posed on Instagram wearing £550 Dolce & Gabbana trainers outside his cell vaping with the caption ‘stronger than ever’ written in Albanian.
Merizaj was part of a gang who lured cannabis dealer Hemawand Ali Hussein to a house in Hartlepool, County Durham, in 2019 before blasting him with a shotgun.
Jailing him for life in 2022, Mr Justice Lavender accepted Merizaj did not pull the trigger and was not in the house when the killing took place, but said he had been heavily involved in its planning and had bought weapons including an axe.
The killer will now be transferred to Peqin prison, a high-security facility in the west of Albania.
The 15 Albanian murderers who remain in British jails include Koci Selamaj, 37, who was jailed for life with a minimum term of 36 years for the murder of primary school teacher Sabina Nessa on September 26, 2021.
Another, 49-year-old Ali Qazimaj, murdered retired couple Peter Stuart, 75, and his wife Sylvia, 69, near their home in Weybread, Suffolk, in June 2016. The court heard he had worked as a carer for a relative of the couple’s son-in-law.
The 15 Albanian murderers who remain in British prisons. They are, from left – top row: Koci Selamaj, Ali Qazimaj, Erland Spahiu, Besnik Berisha, Sabajet Shuti; middle row: Lundrim Gjikokaj, Erion Voja, Elton Sefa, Josif Nushi, Mane Driza; bottom row: Mihal Dhana, Radian Lika, Brikel Palaj, Erlin Hasa, Kozma Papa
Meanwhile, Erland Spahiu, 34, was one of eight men jailed for life for abducting and brutally murdering Christopher Hughes in February 2022.
The 37-year-old suffered nearly 100 separate injuries after being hunted down by a vigilante gang who wrongly believed he had raped a teenager.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson told the Mail: ‘Prisoner Transfer Agreements are just one way in which we get foreign criminals out of our jails. Since taking office, this Government has deported over 5,400 foreign offenders – a 12 percent increase on the previous 12 months.
‘We have deployed staff to 80 jails to speed up the removal of prisoners who have no right to be in this country.’
