TIRANA, Nov. 16 – An Albanian court has convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison Sokol Fran Mjacaj, a repeat criminal offender who killed two Czech tourists in July in a mountainous area in northwestern Albania.
Mjacaj had asked for the court’s mercy after he admitted to the crime and said the murders happened as part of an armed robbery gone wrong.
The victims were Anna Kosinovà¡, a 36-year-old woman, and Michal SvatoŠ¡, a 27-year-old man who worked as a firefighter.
The couple were from the Czech Republic’s PlzeŠˆ region, and their social media photos showed they loved Albania’s mountainous north, which is popular with many Czech tourists.
The killings caused public outrage in Albania, including many calls for the return of the death penalty, which Albania has abolished as part of its bid to join the European Union.
Life in prison is the highest penalty under Albania’s laws. Mjacaj has the right to appeal the sentence to a higher court.
Mjacaj had only been released from prison earlier in the year before he committed the murders. He had served a sentences in relation to a killing when he was a teenager and another robbery.
