Prosecutors want 2.5-year jail sentence for Beleri
The ethnic-Greek mayor-elect of the Albanian town of Himare Fredi Beleri should receive a jail sentence of two and a half years, Albanian prosecutors said at his trial on Tuesday.
Beleri, who ran for mayor against socialist candidate Gjergj Goro in the southern Albanian town with a significant Greek minority, was remanded in custody pending trial in May on vote-buying charges after his arrest on the eve of municipal elections which he won.
Pantelis Kokavesis, an aide to Beleri, is facing a year’s imprisonment, which will likely be suspended on health grounds.
The trial is expected to continue on February 28 in Albania’s Special Court for Corruption and Organized Crime.
As reported by Greek state broadcaster ERT, Beleri stated his concern over the judicial process, saying “my evidence is not being admitted, my witnesses are not being questioned and evidence against me has been forged.”
“We don’t have impartial justice here in Albania, the process is politically motivated as we’ve also seen the prime minister [Edi Rama] interfere in this case. You have left the people of Himare without their mayor. This is a political imprisonment and I’m not allowed to be sworn in as mayor,” Beleri said.
