Albania: Ethnic Greek mayor sentenced to two years for vote buying
An Albanian court on Tuesday convicted a mayor from the country’s Greek minority to two years in prison for buying votes, a ruling that was expected to raise tensions with neighboring Greece.
The Special Court on Corruption and Organized Crime also handed Pantelis Kokavesis, Beleri’s aide, an 18-month suspended sentence.
During the trial, Beleri said the court was biased and that such trial “could have take place once upon a time but not in a European state in the year 2024, where it is not officially in a dictatorship.”
Greece had called on Albania’s government to stop the process against Fredi Beleri, saying the case could negatively impact Albania’s application to join the European Union. Albania is a candidate member negotiating full membership.
Beleri’s lawyer Geni Gjyzari asserted that the verdict was “political as the prime minister had ordered it,” adding that he would appeal.
Albania’s government has said it could do nothing while the case was in court.
Beleri was elected mayor of Himare, 240 kilometers (150 miles) south of the capital, Tirana. He was arrested days before the vote while allegedly offering 40,000 Albanian leks ($390 at the time) to buy eight votes. Beleri won the election but could not be sworn in while under arrest.
Relations between Greece and post-communist Albania have been uneasy at times, largely over issues of minority rights and the sizable Albanian community in Greece.
[AP/Kathimerini]
