Beleri vows to appeal to European Court
Albanian court grants release to ethnic Greek MEP and former mayor of Himare
Monday’s decision by an Albanian court to grant the release of the ethnic Greek elected mayor of Himare and MEP for New Democracy Fredi Beleri after 16 months of detention essentially ended his personal adventure but does not lead to an automatic improvement in Greek-Albanian relations, which have been seriously damaged by the affair.
Beleri vowed to continue his legal battle through all levels of Albanian justice and at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. “After 16 months of continuous detention, I am now free and proud, but certainly not happy,” he said, noting that “the rule of law and democracy in Albania have not been restored, the institutions have not worked, justice has not been done in the way it should have been.”
He noted that his main concern as an MEP will be to highlight the issues concerning the ethnic Greek minority in Albania. Beleri also thanked Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis “from the bottom of my heart,” and Greek citizens for giving him “the strength not to break down, to endure and to continue to fight.”
Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said his release was a positive development but stressed, however, that “it does not undo what has happened that led to his prolonged detention and what we already know about the rule of law and fundamental norms.”
“Greece will continue to care for the Greek national minority and to highlight the issues, which are linked to international law and the European acquis,” Gerapetritis said.
Beleri had been arrested before the May 2023 municipal elections on vote-buying charges.
The decision on Monday was taken after multiple postponements, the main aim of which was to hold the by-elections for the municipality of Himare on August 4, while Beleri was imprisoned.
The election of a new mayor in Himare (Vangjel Tavo) – i.e. a predetermined decision by the Albanian government – effectively made the continued imprisonment of Beleri politically useless for Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Even if the Albanian court had voted against freeing Beleri on Monday, it would have nonetheless issued a restricted leave of absence for the upcoming European Parliament plenary session, which takes place from September 16-19. Due to the MEP having completed two thirds of his sentence and exhibiting outstanding behavior while incarcerated, the Albanian judiciary was unable to extend the prison sentence past the end of the month.
