The “clouds” between Athens and Tirana were caused by the arrest and detention of Heimarra mayoral candidate and Greek immigrant Freddy Beleris on charges of vote-buying on the eve of Albania’s municipal elections.

Yesterday Beleris was transferred to the prison of Tirana, where he will stay for at least 10 days.

It is noted that the partner of Beleris Pantelis Kokavesis was also sentenced to pre-trial detention. The Tirana hospital was also informed about this decision, where Kokavesis was taken due to health problems (a year ago he underwent a heart transplant).

Beleris and Kokavesis have the right to appeal within five days, and the Court of Appeal will issue a decision within ten days.

It is noted that today, Mr. Beleris, as a rule, will be put on the ballot, and his supporters can vote for him.

Beleris’ first message from prison

“Your vote saves the country and democracy,” Beleris wrote yesterday on his personal Facebook account.

Speaking to the OPEN TV channel, he said that although according to initial estimates, from 1200 to 1300 people will go from Athens to Himarra to vote, in the last few hours the number has increased to 1500.

Albanian Foreign Ministry tweet

In the midst of the Greek Foreign Ministry’s reaction, Albanian Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Olta Jaska took a stand on the Beleris case after reacting to his arrest two days before the election.

In a Twitter post, he responds to the Greek side, citing disrespect for Albanian institutions and accusing Beleris of criminal activities against “free and fair elections” in Albania.

“It’s almost impossible to understand how our Greek friends have the right to challenge a court decision in our country when the hard evidence they were looking for couldn’t be more complex – Freddie Beleri was convicted of criminal activity against a free and fair election,” Jaska initially says. in your post.

Statement by the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs

“The decision of the court in Avlon, if the evidence is not conclusive, is scandalous,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement in the case of mayoral candidate Heimarras Dionysus-Freddy Beleris.

“Arresting a mayoral candidate two days before an election is not the rule of law,” he adds characteristically. “The decision to pre-trial detention of a mayoral candidate leads to the complete abolition of equality rules in the municipal elections in Heimarra, the most important center of the Greek national minority in Albania,” he emphasizes.

“Such a decision will also affect the EU’s relations with Albania, since the condition of this European course is the commitment of the candidate countries to European rules and principles of the rule of law.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also states that such decisions, which violate the above principles, “mean that, in practice, Albania is not following the European path.”

“political decision”

Yesterday Saturday, KEAD President Vangelis Dulles described Beleris’ pre-trial detention as a political decision, just like the whole scene before his arrest.

It is noted that Beleris was arrested just two days before the municipal elections in the neighboring country.

Recall that Kyriakos Mitsotakis sent a message to Tirana that if Albania wants to get closer to the EU, it must ensure free municipal elections and immediately release those whom it has imprisoned.