Alfred Beleri, a former ethnic Greek mayor of a southern Albanian town, was released ahead of time on Monday, following imprisonment on vote-buying charges. This case has notably strained relations between Greece and Albania. Beleri is currently on probation.
His lawyer mentioned that the court agreed to his early release six weeks before the scheduled date, indirectly implying political motivations given the timing after early elections in Himarë. Upon his release, Beleri remarked that there are no legitimate elections in Albania and that democracy in the country is dysfunctional. He also expressed his intention to run for mayor again if he wins his case at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
In July, the Central Election Commission of Albania (CEC) removed Beleri from his mayoral seat, citing the decriminalization law, which prohibits individuals convicted of certain crimes from holding public office. The CEC subsequently called for early elections in Himarë, which were won by Vangjel Tavo, the candidate from the ruling Socialist Party.
Beleri had won the previous election in May 2023 as the opposition’s candidate but was prevented from being sworn in due to his arrest and subsequent two-year prison sentence on election corruption charges. This prompted the CEC to remove him from office.
Since Beleri’s arrest and the call for early elections, diplomatic tensions between Greece and Albania have increased. Athens has consistently voiced concerns about the legal proceedings and the political integrity of the elections. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitotakis has threatened to block Albania’s EU integration efforts unless issues related to Beleri’s case are resolved in accordance with democratic norms and the rule of law.
Beleri’s arrest is widely perceived as politically motivated, with suggestions that business interests and land acquisition by government-aligned partners played a role. Despite his imprisonment, Beleri was elected to the European Parliament as a member of Greece’s ruling party “New Democracy” and under the banner of the center-right European People’s Party. In July, the Albanian authorities permitted him to be sworn in as an MEP.