Albania’s supreme court leaves ethnic Greek ex-mayor in prison

FILE - Fredis Beleris looks on as Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visits to the ethnic Greek minority of Albania, in Himare, Albania, on Dec. 22, 2022. Fredis Beleris, an ethnic Greek politician jailed in Albania for vote-buying, says he hopes his election this month to the European Parliament will help boost the rule of law in Albania. Beleris told The Associated Press in an interview from prison that he would have preferred to serve as mayor of the southern Albania community he was elected to lead last year, before his arrest and conviction. His case has soured relations between Balkan neighbors Greece and Albania. (Dimitris Papamitsos/Greek Prime Minister's Office via AP, File)

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania’s Supreme Court on Friday upheld a verdict of the lower courts keeping a former elected mayor from the country’s Greek minority in prison after he was convicted of buying votes.

A Supreme Court statement said that it upheld the verdicts of the court of first instance and the court of appeal which had sentenced Freddie Beleris, 51, to two years in prison.

Beleris, who has dual citizenship, is also a member of the European Parliament. He won a Greek seat in the EU legislature in elections last month, representing the governing conservative New Democracy party.

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Beleris’ office in Athens said Friday that prison authorities have granted him leave for five days to attend the opening session of the new Parliament in Strasbourg on July 16-21.

In Albania, prison department spokeswoman Fernanda Cenko said Beleris’ leave request was “still being considered.”

European Parliament lawmakers enjoy substantial legal immunity from prosecution, even if the allegations relate to crimes committed prior to their election.

In the case of Beleris, that rule is unlikely to affect the outcome, as he is serving time for a crime committed in a non-EU member country.

Last year Beleris was elected mayor of Himare, 240 kilometers (150 miles) south of the capital, Tirana. He was arrested two days before the vote, accused of offering 40,000 Albanian leks (360 euro at the time) to buy eight votes. Beleris was never sworn in because he was under arrest and later sentenced to two years imprisonment.

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Beleris has denied the charges, and Athens has described his detention as politically motivated.

After the appeal court verdict, Albanian election authorities stripped Beleris of his post as Himara’s mayor and a new election will be held Aug. 4.

Beleris’ case has strained ties between Tirana and Athens, with Greece saying the case could harm Albania’s application to join the European Union. Albania, a candidate country, is in the process of negotiating full membership.

Albania’s government said it could do nothing while the case was in court.

Albania, a former communist country and a current NATO member, has a historically tense relationship with Greece, largely over issues of Greek minority rights and the sizable Albanian community in Greece.

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Follow Llazar Semini at https://x.com/lsemini

The Associated Press

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