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.
ALBANIA
Albania’s top court gave the green light on Monday to a deal letting Italy build migrant processing centers on Albanian territory, a scheme that has faced criticism from opposition and rights groups.
The Appeal of Albania’s Special Court for Corruption and Organized Crime (GJKKO) on Monday rejected a request by Fredi Beleri, the ethnic-Greek mayor-elect of Himare, to be sworn in before the municipal council.
A deal allowing Italy to build reception camps in Albania for thousands of migrants arriving by sea raises concerns about arbitrary detention and living conditions, the UN human rights chief said on Thursday.
Leaders of the six Western Balkan countries, including Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, met on Monday in Skopje, North Macedonia to discuss reforms needed to access the European Union growth plan presented last October.
Athens is standing in the way of an EU-Tirana Defense and Security Agreement over the Albanian government’s intransigent stance regarding the incarceration of the ethnic Greek mayor of Himare, Fredi Beleri.
The situation in some parts of the Western Balkans is volatile and problematic in the rest. Prospects of joining the European Union have faded and the fresh momentum stemming chiefly from Ukraine but also from Moldova in the shadow of the Moscow-Kiev war has stumbled.
The difficulties that lie ahead in finding an acceptable solution to the case of Fredi Beleri, the jailed ethnic-Greek mayor of Himare, were reflected at the funeral of his grandmother, which took place on New Year’s Eve in the southern Albanian town, under tight security, with the presence of a total of almost 30 armed police officers.
Albanian police have said they have dismantled a crime ring based in the city of Korce that defrauded Greek citizens by withdrawing thousands of euros from their bank accounts. Around 5,000 people in Greece were defrauded by the gang, which was led by a 30-year-old man from Tirana and a 29-year-old man from Korce.
Scuffles broke out between mourners and Albanian police at the funeral of the grandmother of Fredi Beleri on Sunday, after the mayor-elect of the ethnic-Greek city of Himare was kept in handcuffs and given just a few minutes to pay his respects.
Fredi Beleri, the ethnic-Greek elected mayor of Himare, western Albania, was granted a six-hour leave from prison to attend his grandmother’s funeral on Sunday.
Greece is anticipating an initiative from the Albanian government of Prime Minister Edi Rama to address the ongoing deadlock in bilateral relations caused by the detention of Fredi Beleri, the ethnic Greek mayor-elect in the southern town of Himare, on charges of alleged vote-buying.
Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis has defended Greece’s stance on the case of Fredi Beleri, the ethnic Greek mayor-elect in the southern Albanian town of Himare, who has been in pre-trial detention since May on vote-buying charges.
Fredi Beleri, the incarcerated ethnic Greek elected mayor of the Albanian region of Himare, penned a letter to Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on Sunday. This action followed the resignation of defeated mayor Gjergji Goro, who, having lost to Beleri in the elections, assumed mayoral duties amid his imprisonment.
Albanian mayoral candidate Gjergj Goro, who assumed office amid the incarceration of opponent Fredi Beleri in the Albanian region of Himare, reportedly resigned on Saturday.
Albania’s parliament voted Thursday to lift the legal immunity of former prime minister Sali Berisha, who leads the opposition Democratic Party and is accused of corruption.
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