Status boundary: Dritan Dajti was convicted of murdering the four officers. The 2024 Supreme Court ruling annulled the 2019 appellate reduction and left the original life sentence in force. This page does not attribute the death of civilian Ledion Mara to Dajti where the available summaries do not provide the same final adjudication detail.
A suspect on the run for six years
Dritan Dajti had escaped from a Tirana courtroom in 2003 while facing proceedings in an earlier case. By August 2009 he was one of Albania’s most wanted fugitives. Police intelligence placed him in the coastal city of Durrës.
The arrest team came from a special operational unit. Contemporary reporting said officers surrounded a vehicle associated with Dajti in a busy resort area. The operation unfolded in public and exposed officers and bystanders to immediate danger.
Four officers killed during the arrest operation
The four officers killed were Fatos Xhani, Altin Dizdari, Saimir Duçkollari and Kastriot Feskaj. Dajti was seriously wounded and taken into custody. Civilian Ledion Mara also died in the exchange, and several other people were injured.
The criminal judgment later treated Dajti as responsible for the officers’ murders. This page centers the four adjudicated killings and does not use the crossfire to make unsupported claims about every shot or injury at the scene.
The 2014 life sentence
The prosecution of Dajti lasted for years amid disputes over representation and procedure. Prosecutors sought four life sentences for the four murders. On 23 July 2014, the Serious Crimes Court of First Instance imposed life imprisonment.
The conviction also addressed other offences connected to the arrest and Dajti’s prior fugitive status. The essential point for this archive is narrower: the court convicted him for murdering the four police officers and imposed the highest custodial penalty.
An appellate court cuts the sentence to 25 years
On 8 February 2019, the Serious Crimes Court of Appeal accepted a shortened-trial procedure and reduced the sentence to 25 years. The decision generated public controversy and a prosecution appeal.
The procedural change mattered because Albania’s sentencing rules provide a one-third reduction after a shortened trial, but the prosecution argued that this route should not have displaced the life term in the circumstances of the case.
The Supreme Court restores life imprisonment
On 11 June 2024, a Supreme Court panel composed of Ilir Panda, Sandër Simoni and Artur Kalaja accepted the prosecution’s appeal. It annulled the 2019 appellate judgment and left the first-instance decision in force.
The legal result was a restored life sentence. Later proceedings concerning judges involved in the reduction are separate from Dajti’s guilt and are not used here to imply corruption or criminal responsibility without a final judgment.
Why this case is adjudicated
The identity of the convicted offender, the four adjudicated murders and the operative sentence have been resolved by a final Supreme Court ruling. Crime by Region therefore classifies the case as adjudicated.
That classification does not claim that every disputed detail at the scene has been answered. It identifies the legal status of the four police murders and separates it from questions concerning the civilian death, Dajti’s own injuries and later judicial investigations.
Case timeline
- 2003 Dajti escapes from a Tirana courtroom and remains a fugitive.
- 7 August 2009 Four special-unit officers and civilian Ledion Mara are killed during the Durrës arrest operation; Dajti is captured.
- 1 July 2014 Prosecutors seek life imprisonment for each of the four officer murders.
- 23 July 2014 The Serious Crimes Court of First Instance imposes life imprisonment.
- 8 February 2019 The appellate court reduces the sentence to 25 years after accepting a shortened trial.
- 11 June 2024 The Supreme Court annuls the appellate judgment and restores life imprisonment.
Questions readers ask
Who were the four officers killed?
Fatos Xhani, Altin Dizdari, Saimir Duçkollari and Kastriot Feskaj.
Was anyone else killed?
Yes. Civilian Ledion Mara also died during the exchange. This page does not assign responsibility for his death beyond what the sourced final judgments establish.
What sentence did Dajti first receive?
The Serious Crimes Court of First Instance sentenced him to life imprisonment in July 2014.
Why was the term reduced in 2019?
The appellate court accepted a shortened-trial procedure and imposed a 25-year term.
What did the Supreme Court decide in 2024?
It annulled the 2019 appellate judgment and left the original life sentence in force.
Is the case still unresolved?
The four police murders and Dajti’s sentence are adjudicated. Separate questions about other scene events and later proceedings should not be collapsed into that final conviction.