Albania: Ethnic Greek politician to remain in jail pending trial

A court in Albania decided on Saturday to detain until his trial an ethnic Greek mayoral candidate in the southern Albanian municipality of Himara, Fredi Beleri, after he was charged with vote-buying.

Albanian State Police said on Friday that the prosecution in the city of Vlora has charged Beleri with “active corruption in elections”. They added that another person was also arrested on the same charges in Himara.

Beleris will be transferred to the prison at Tirana where he will remain for at least 10 days, the Court of Vlora said.

Pandeli Kakoveshi, a friend of Beleri who was also arrested, was transferred to a hospital in Tirana due to health problems. The court will announce its ruling about his fate soon. 

Vangjel Dule, the head of the ethnic Greek Union for Human Rights, PBDNJ, claimed the ruling is politically motivated, along with the events leading up to Beleri’s arrest.

The arrest came 48 hours before the May 14 local elections, where the 51-year-old is running against the current mayor, Gjergji Goro, who is seeking a third term and caused a crisis in relations between Athens and Tirana.

The arrest is seen in Athens as part of internal, pre-election ploys by the government of Edi Rama. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis sent a message to Tirana on Friday that if Albania wants to move closer to the European Union, it must ensure free municipal elections and immediately release those it has imprisoned.