Deportation appeal fails

4:30pm Friday 18th May 2007

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A former Albanian police chief who claims he will be murdered by a gangster if he is deported has lost a High Court fight against his removal from the UK.

The man, in his 30s and living in Oxford, fled the Balkan country for the UK, via Italy and France, to seek asylum after losing his job in the Republican Guard in 2005.

He claims an Interpol-listed crime boss blames him for the death of his brother during an attempted arrest in 1998 and would order his killing if he was found.

On February 15, Home Secretary John Reid ruled that because he first fled to Italy he should be deported to apply for asylum in Italy.

The man took his case to the High Court, claiming that Albanian criminals are working extensively in Italy.

But Mr Justice Newman backed the Home Secretary's decision and rejected his case, saying there was no concrete evidence that he would face persecution if he was returned to Italy.