Albania’s supreme court upholds Beleri verdict

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 Fredi Beleri, 51, to two years in prison.

Beleri, 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.

Beleri’s 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 Beleri’s 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 Beleri, 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 Beleri was elected mayor of Himare, 240 kilometers 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. Beleri was never sworn in because he was under arrest and later sentenced to two years imprisonment.

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

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

Beleri’ 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 has a historically tense relationship with Greece, largely over issues of Greek minority rights and the sizable Albanian community in Greece.