An Albanian drug dealer in the UK is fighting against deportation to Italy on the grounds that there is a lack of hot water in its prisons. Maringlen Qefalia claims the situation would breach his rights under article three of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The 41-year-old, who is believed to have illegally entered the UK in 2022, was sentenced to five years in prison in Italy for supplying 1.5kg of cocaine. The Italian authorities are now seeking that he is extradited to serve his jail time.
However, Qefalia quoted article three to block his deportation, which is the protection against torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The drug dealer did not give any evidence before the court during the extradition proceedings, but called upon an expert witness, Alessio Scandurra.
The expert works with the non-profit Antigone organisation, which deals with justice, human rights and penal policy. Mr Scandurra, who has visited many prisons, said Italy failed to meet the required footage for inmates to properly exercise.
He told the court: “A number of prisons were not built as prisons, such as convents or military facilities, and they can have single cells that do not meet the requirement.”
He added: “A number of prisons were not built as prisons, such as convents or military facilities, and they can have single cells that do not meet the requirement.”
The expert also told the court that the provision of hot water was “variable” and that prisons often overheated in hot weather.
Adam Squibbs, who represented Italy, argued that prison cells would comply with regulations, and that there was no evidence as to how much smaller their cells were.
Mr Squibbs said that overall material conditions did not come close to a breach of article three of the ECHR. He added that having to take a cold shower was not a breach of article three under the convention.
The judge rejected Qefalia’s legal challenge to his deportation, and said: “Maringlen Qefalia is a fugitive in the technical sense.
“I am quite sure that he left Italy with full knowledge of the criminal process, the sentence remaining to be served, and without notice to the Italian authorities. He knowingly and deliberately placed himself beyond the reach of Italian justice.
“In relation to temperature, the evidence is vague and non-specific and does not analyse how it compares to the lived experience of the population.
“The variable levels of hot water again would need to be specific by reference to location. While hot water might be essential in a cold winter in northern Italy, a cold shower might be preferable, even essential, in a hot summer in the south of the country.
“I am therefore satisfied there is no real risk of a breach of article three, so that I do not consider any further information or assurance is necessary.”
