The Tirana court decided today to release Freddy Beleri, accepting the relevant request from his defense. Beleri, an elected Member of the European Parliament from the New Democracy party, had served two-thirds of his prison sentence, which was due to be completed in early October.
The court’s decision was accompanied by a commitment to communicate – physical presence is not required – at regular intervals with the police department.
Beleri was elected mayor of Himara in 2023, but he was not allowed to take the oath as he was detained for attempted vote buying. The charge was contested by both himself and Athens. After the decision, he returned to prison from where he is expected to leave once the necessary bureaucratic procedures are completed.
F. Beleri: I am now free and proud
“Today’s decision is just a drop in the ocean of vindication that awaits us in front. My fight now begins,” stated the New Democracy MEP, Freddy Beleri, in his statement following the announcement of his release from Albanian prisons.
“After 16 months of continuous detention, I am now free and proud, but certainly not happy,” and this is because, as he notes, “the rule of law and democracy in Albania have not been restored, the institutions did not function, and justice was not rendered as it should have been.”
He also emphasizes that he considers it “self-evident” that he will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights “for what was denied to me in a coup-like manner by the Albanian regime,” as he notes, adding that “now, exercising the duties of a Greek MEP, I will be able to focus on the issues of the Greek national minority and the rule of law, without fear but only with passion.”
He mentions that today he will be “among my brothers in Himara, where my adventure began and I believe it is only right to be there.”
In his statement, he sincerely thanks the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, “for his brave decision to include me in the New Democracy electoral list, which changed the course of my history” and his “close” friends, Angelos Syrigos and Stavros Papastavrou, for their “unwavering support.”
“They were always there, I will not forget it,” he states characteristically and concludes by thanking the Greek citizens “who all this time gave me the strength not to bend, to endure, and to continue fighting.”