Imprisoned Greek EU lawmaker awaits new court decision

ATHENS — Fredi Beleri, the ethnic Greek mayor-elect of the Albanian town of Himarë, celebrated his election as a Greek member of the European Parliament for the ruling New Democracy party in an Albanian prison.

Beleri is the only MEP who was in jail when elected to the Parliament this June.

In May 2023, Beleri — who belongs to the area’s Greek minority — was elected mayor of the coastal town on the Albanian riviera just two days after being arrested for vote-buying. Beleri defeated his opponent by 19 votes after allegedly offering 40,000 Albanian leks (€355 at the time) to buy eight votes.

This March he was sentenced to two years in prison. He is due in court on Tuesday to appeal his conviction — which he says was false and politically motivated.

“I don’t expect the judicial outcome will be just,” he told POLITICO in an interview via telephone from prison. Believing the judge in his case to be a political appointee, he predicts his file will wind up with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. 

“In any other country in the world, the only outcome I could expect would be my acquittal — because there is no evidence, there is no case.”

Inflaming Greece-Albania tensions

Analysts and officials in Greece, including in the Foreign Ministry, criticized the decision of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to include Beleri on his party’s European election ballot for the center-right New Democracy, especially given his incarceration in Albania.

Critics predicted the decision would inflame long-running grievances between Greece and Albania.

Although Albania was granted EU candidate status in 2014, the European Commission has said the country’s government “needs to refrain from measures that are not in line with EU standards,” including on freedom of expression, minority issues and property rights, as well as in areas key to the rule of law.

Το Greeks, Beleri was a victim of trumped-up political charges, but to Albanians he is a menacing figure associated with armed insurrection by the ethnic Greek minority.

He was also widely viewed as a key opponent of the Albanian government in a fight over the seizure of properties belonging to ethnic Greeks around Himarë.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has repeatedly said that Beleri will be judged by the country’s independent judicial authorities, just like any other Albanian citizen. Athens, Rama said in February, “makes it look like Albania is Siberia and that someone in Siberia is held hostage by a ruthless bloodthirsty regime.

Analysts criticized the decision of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. | Johannes Simon/Getty Images

“If there was any truth in all this, do you think that this city would be silent and the European Commission would not have said a word, the European Council, another member state?” 

But some supporters of EU enlargement argue that with Beleri’s candidacy, New Democracy was indeed taking a bilateral dispute to the European level. 

Beleri cited his own case, among others, as evidence of problems in Albania’s judiciary. “In Albania, there has been a judicial reform, which instead of helping justice has made it even worse. The pending cases have multiplied. It is clear that there is a rule of law issue in Albania.” 

Athens insists Albania’s EU accession path must respect the country’s Greek minority. The issue has strained Greece’s relations with some of its EU allies, particularly Germany, whose Chancellor Olaf Scholz has publicly supported Albania’s candidacy despite objections from Greece.

Where Beleri stands

Beleri says he’s in favor of Albania joining the EU. 

“It is in the interests of the Greek minority, of Albania and of Greece,” he said. “[But] I’m not convinced that the current government in Albania is aiming for a European course.”

In November, Greece warned a meeting of EU ambassadors that it stood ready to block Albania’s accession bid if it didn’t respect Beleri’s rights. 

But Greece has failed so far to convince its Western allies that the case should affect Albania’s EU path.

“We did not succeed, because it is clear that there is no European solidarity,” Beleri said. “Justice in Albania is a huge issue toward which Europeans are turning a blind eye.”

He added that his priorities as an MEP would be upholding the rule of law, the defense of minority rights, and the EU integration of the Western Balkans.

But as long as he remains in prison, Beleri will be unable to perform any of his duties in the Parliament, including voting and taking part in committees. Beleri was similarly unable to take up his office as mayor because he couldn’t be sworn in while in prison.

Elected EU lawmakers enjoy immunity in the bloc’s 27 member countries — but not in external nations such as Albania.

Critics predicted the decision would inflame long-running grievances between Greece and Albania. | Dimitris Kapantais/Getty Images

Spokespeople from the European People’s Party, to which New Democracy belongs, and from the European Parliament declined to comment on Beleri’s case.

Officials from New Democracy, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, admit there is no way for him to perform all of his political duties at the moment. But they also note he will have completed his sentence less than a year from now.

For the moment, Beleri participates in meetings of newly elected New Democracy MEPs via teleconference, with the Greek authorities having to apply for special permission on each occasion to his Albanian prison, the officials said.

Several Greek MEPs have faced criminal charges in recent years — including one convicted after being elected for participating in a neo-Nazi organization, and MEP Eva Kaili, who was jailed for her alleged involvement in the Qatargate corruption scandal.

Meanwhile, Italian antifascist activist Ilaria Salis, who faces criminal charges for allegedly assaulting a neo-Nazi, was elected as an MEP in June. She was released from house arrest in Budapest back to her native Italy after winning her seat and gaining immunity.