Prime Minister of Albania Eddie Rama Late last night, he said, commenting on the events in Heimarra, that he does not plan to make decisions before justice decides on the prosecution of newly elected mayor Freddie Belleris.

At a press conference on the municipal elections, Mr. Rama called the entire issue of the arrest and pre-trial detention of Beleris manipulation and defended the independence of the judiciary in Albania.

Regarding the electoral process and result in Himarra, he said: “They passed in complete calm, there the voting took place without any obstacles, without any incidents. Representatives of the diplomatic corps were present as observers, there were journalists from all media, Albanian and Greek, there were also police forces that guaranteed a smooth voting process, and the counting, as elsewhere in Albania, was transparent, peaceful. As a result, the candidate opposing the government won by several votes. All this completely rejects any arguments that they tried to win us over by illegal electoral means. All this has nothing to do with the decision of the court on the proposal of the prosecutor on a particular candidate. Therefore, I believe that this argument is sufficient not to get confused.

Mr. Rama criticized the excessive rhetoric of the Greek government and political parties in Athens and said he would say more immediately after the Greek elections.

Meanwhile, Freddy Beleris and his closest associate Pantelis Kokavesis, who was transferred to the hospital due to serious health problems, are still in custody in Tirana.

^{Source: APE-MEB}