The ambassador of Great Britain in Tirana, Alastair King-Smith, has been mandated to negotiate with the Albanian government the latest agreement for the transfer of Albanian prisoners from English prisons to Albanian ones.
In an interview talking about the agreement with Top Channel’s Muhamed Veliu, Ambassador Alastair King-Smith tells how the agreement was reached.
Muhamed Veliu: “To my knowledge, with the support of Prime Ministers Sunak and Rama, you along with Minister Ulsi Manja were the leading force of the negotiations. How did you manage to agree?”
Ambassador Alastair King-Smith: “This is a new agreement between the Governments of the United Kingdom and Albania, which proves the strength of our cooperation and partnership.
“It implements the Prisoner Transfer Agreement and has been the subject of negotiations between our two Ministries of Justice and both Governments. We are really pleased because this agreement will enable us to implement existing pacts more effectively.”
Muhamed Veliu: What is the agreed formula, regarding the financial cost paid by England for every Albanian transferred to Albanian prisons?
Alastair King-Smith: “This agreement has a number of elements, but basically, the British Government is guaranteeing over 14 million euros to Albania, to cover the cost of prisoner transfers, and also to modernize the prison service in Albania.
“This means that the best British expertise is being obtained, which ensures higher standards for Albanian prisons.
“British prisons are overcrowded, Albanian prisons are overcrowded, the only way to do this is if we work together to take the deal forward.”
Muhamed Veliu: There are over 1,500 Albanians in English prisons today. The agreement foresees the transfer of 200 of them. What will happen to the rest?
Alastair King-Smith: “This agreement enables the return of those who received the right to transfer and those who have only 4 years of sentence left.
“Some of those you mentioned are awaiting trial and others do not fall into that category. But we know that family is important in Albania and this agreement allows prisoners to serve the remainder of their sentence near their families and will benefit from family visits.”
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