The European Commission called on Albania to ensure due process after opposition Greek minority candidate Fredi Beleri, who won elections in the southern municipality of Himara, was sentenced to prison for vote buying, according to Euractiv.
Earlier this week, Beleri, an ethnic Greek who won the 2023 local elections, was unable to take the oath of office due to being in prison awaiting trial. He would now face two years in prison, but he denied all charges, accusing the courts of politicisation, with his lawyers stating they intended to appeal.
His arrest two days before the election on suspicion of bribing four votes caused tensions between Greece and Albania as Athens threatened to veto Albania’s EU membership unless all charges were dropped and Beleri was allowed to take the oath and become mayor.
Beleri won the election in Himara, home to the ethnic Greek minority, by a narrow margin of votes, but the court rejected a series of appeals to allow him to take the oath or replace “arrest in prison” with “house arrest.”. He announced that he would now take the case to the EU courts.
The Albanian government argued that Greece could not interfere in the proceedings and that the justice system should be allowed to take its course.
However, critics in Athens claim there is a business motivation behind the situation, hinting that the government wants to retain control over building permits issued in Himara, a popular summer resort with a lucrative property market.
