Former ethnic Greek mayor of an Albanian town, Fredi Beleri has been released on probation from jail in Albania.
Beleri, a dual Albanian-Greek national, was arrested two days before the May 14, 2023, municipal elections in Himara, a town populated by ethnic Greeks on what has been dubbed the Albanian Riviera. He was charged and convicted of offering about 40,000 Albanian leks (360 euros, $390) to buy eight votes.
On Monday, lawyer Eugen Gjyzari said Beleri was released from jail after a court in Fier, 100 kilometres south of the capital, Tirana, where he was serving a two-year sentence, accepted his request for early release.
Speaking with public broadcaster ERT after his release, Beleri said he would appeal his case to the European Court of Human Rights, saying “I have been crippled by the Albanian regime.”
“I am relieved but cannot forget the injustice done to me and the blatant disregard for the will of the people of Himare,” he added.
The case against Beleri has strained relations between Tirana and Athens, with Greece threatening to hold up Albania’s bid to join the European Union.
Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis called Beleri’s release “certainly a positive development.”
“This doesn’t mean we’ll forget the (previous) 17 months and the severity of what happened,” he told a press briefing. “Because in the person of Fredi Beleri the Greek government sees all the Greek citizens, all the Greek ethnic minority in Albania which we will continue to support.”
Source: AP News.
