He won the elections in Himarë/ Fredi Beleri: I am of Greek origin, in 33 years the only one arrested for electoral crimes

2023-09-03 20:44:00, Aktualitet CNA

He won the elections in Himarë/ Fredi Beleri: I am of Greek origin, in 33

The winner of the elections in the Municipality of Himara, Fredi Beleri, in an interview from prison for the Greek newspaper Kathimerini, has appealed for his release from prison.

He says that the attitude towards him is clearly vindictive and according to him there is a previous precedent for the case in question.

"I'm glad that Rama criticized himself for the unjust attack, however, I still remain in prison. While in custody and unconvicted, I am prohibited from exercising my civil rights and being sworn in as mayor. What law says I can't swear while in custody? There is a precedent with two elected MPs, Azgan Haklaj in 2001 and Mark Frroku in 2015, who were sworn in while in custody. I told you and I will say it again, the position of the mayor of Himara, my defeated opponent in the May elections, is unjustified and politically and morally unacceptable. The attitude towards me is clearly vindictive. There is a precedent in both 2001 and 2015 with two elected MPs sworn in while in custody. All this, it makes my prosecution political and justice weak. The denial of my civil rights and disregard of the presumption of innocence harms me and the residents of Himara, but above all harms the international image of Albania."

Beleri said that he was arrested while drinking coffee with his friends and that "in the 33 years since communism fell and we hear about electoral crimes, only one person has been arrested and that is me and I am of Greek origin".

"And those who judge are judged. I will describe to you as simply as I can, what has happened in the last 4 months. The police start eavesdropping on me with the security practices of Hoxha's secret service, which have been banned since the 1990s. To eavesdrop on me, they recruited a person convicted in 2020 for fraud, who was taken from the state security 15 days before the alleged crime was committed. The wiretapping approval was given later, after I was arrested, by an incompetent prosecutor. As a candidate for mayor, I was arrested while drinking coffee with my friends, and this is called red-handed arrest. The judges who started the proceedings against me and ordered my detention are all former officials or close friends with the Albanian Socialist Party. Most important!

I am being prevented from being sworn in as mayor because the prosecutor used a forged document of my alleged past conviction. At the same time, my criminal record, issued electronically by the system, shows that I am innocent. I am being held in prison for 115 days for allegedly buying votes for the total amount of 340 euros. By analogy, if they accused me of 1,000,000 euros, as accused by many former ministers and associates of Mr. Rama, I would be imprisoned for 913 years! In the local elections of May, 35 cases of electoral irregularities were reported, but only I was ordered to be detained. Even worse! In the 33 years since communism fell and we hear about electoral crimes, only one person has been arrested and that is me and I am of Greek origin. Therefore, it is not enough just to talk about justice and independent reforms.