Today's rejection of the appeal lodged by Himare’s elected Mayor, Fredi Beleri, against the continuation of his pre-trial detention, does not turn out to be in line with the provisions of the rule of law; also, it does not constitute fair treatment of an elected representative of Local Government, given that, according to a statement issued by the Special Prosecutor's Office of Albania, Fredi Beleri is the only person detained out of a total of 31 criminal reports for electoral offenses.
Furthermore, the rejection of his appeal raises questions as to the existence of political expediency for continuing his detention, since it essentially obstructs F. Beleri’s assumption of duties as Mayor.
The continued pre-trial detention of F. Beleri was the topic of today's discussion between Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vassilis Kaskarelis, and his Albanian counterpart, Olta Xhaçka, held on the sidelines of the informal Meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Oslo.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs keeps this issue very high on its priority agenda and, aside from the bilateral dimension of this matter, it will continue to inform the international community and raise awareness, particularly among our European partners, given than Albania is a candidate country for EU membership.
June 1, 2023