Beleri case upsets Albania political scene

The case of Fredi Beleri, the ethnic Greek elected mayor of Himare, in southern Albania, who is being tried by a special court on charges of corruption, is stoking tensions on the domestic political scene. 

Inductively, Sali Berisha, a former prime minister of Albania, said that Beleri’s arrest and subsequent trial were staged by the police and Special Prosecutor’s Office of the neighboring nation. 

In addition, Berisha implied that Edi Rama, the prime minister of Albania, was behind the case and that this “led us into a confrontation with our neighbors” – a reference to the sharp deterioration in Greek-Albanian relations following Beleri’s imprisonment and the ban on him from even exercising his right to take the oath of office as mayor prior to being tried. 

In an interview on Syri TV, among other things, Berisha said that the person used by the police in the corruption case against Beleri was paid 700,000 leks (about 7,000 euros) from the special secret police funds. 

“This person is called Arsen Rama,” Berisha said, describing the moves by the Albanian police officers as “scandalous.”

He said the police director of Vlore and the head of the Criminal Investigation Department in the Albanian Police acted contrary to the law and the circular of the Ministry of Interior for the management of the secret funds. 

Berisha said this irregularity renders Arsen Rama’s testimony in court as invalid.

Meanwhile, the Special Court in Tirana, where Beleri has been on trial since October 12, has yet to reach a decision on the substance of the case. However, it is typical of the court’s general stance that it has previously dismissed numerous of Beleri’s counsel’s pretrial motions. 

Greece has expressed the will to block some of the EU pre-accession funds for Albania next month while there is no lack of suggestions to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for tough measures on a bilateral level as well.