The saga of Fredi Beleris, the Greek-Albanian MEP who, like Ilaria Salis, was elected to the European Parliament while under arrest, seems to be coming to an end. Unlike the Italian, who was under house arrest at the time of her election and was immediately released by Hungarian judges, Beleris remained in an Albanian prison, where he ended up following an accusation of vote-buying in an electoral contest. The affair, which also caused a diplomatic clash between Greece and Albania (Beleris holds both passports), has now ended with the release of the MEP, which occurred on September 2 after about a year spent in prison.
Beleris’ release celebrated by the Populars
Fredi Beleris was elected on 9 June this year as an MEP on the New Democracy party list, which governs Greece and is a member of the European People’s Party in Brussels. His release on 2 September was conditional, requiring Beleris to “maintain five weeks of contact with the prison service”, according to what his lawyer confirmed to the press. Before the sentence, which was reduced following his election as an MEP, is served, another six weeks of detention are needed. Manfred Weber, the EPP leader in the European Parliament, publicly celebrated Beleris’ release in a tweet, writing: “The release of our colleague Fredis Beleris is good news for our entire EPP family. We look forward to having him with us and continuing our work”.
The charges against Beleris
Beleris ended up behind bars following an accusation of vote-buying. According to Albanian judges, this would have occurred in May 2023, two days before the municipal elections in Himarë. Despite having won, Beleris never managed to take up the office of mayor. The final sentence of conviction arrived in June and included two years of imprisonment. The MEP of New Democracy intends to challenge the decision in any case before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
After the positive result at the polls (he obtained the third place among the candidates of his party), Beleris had been authorized by the Albanian authorities to go to Strasbourg in July for the inaugural session of the tenth legislature. At the end of the plenary session the MEP had to return to prison, being able to follow the parliamentary work and the meetings with his colleagues of the EPP by connecting online.
Similarities and differences with the Ilaria Salis case
Although these are completely different legal cases, Beleris’ story has some similarities with the story of Ilaria Salis. She too had obtained a seat as a European Parliament member while detained in Budapest. However, while Salis was immediately released from prison after the results of the European elections, Beleris remained behind bars. Both cases have opened a discussion on the rules regarding parliamentary immunity of MEPs. While Salis was immediately released, given that Hungary is an EU member state, Beleris remained in prison in a non-EU country, albeit a candidate for accession, such as Albania.
The clash between Greece and Albania
With regard to the trial and imprisonment of Beleris, Athens has always accused Tirana of a political instrumentalization aimed at limiting the powers of Albanian citizens of Hellenic origin. The finger is pointed first of all at Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, who for his part has always rejected criticism and interference from Greece in the judicial affairs within the Balkan country.
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Greek Deputy Prime Minister Pavlos Marinakis, while welcoming the release of his party colleague as “positive”, assured that this “does not mean that we will forget what happened”. The decision to release him by the Albanian court comes after numerous threats by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to block Albania’s progress towards EU membership, which is strongly supported by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Meanwhile, in Himarë at the beginning of August, the rerun of the municipal elections saw the victory of Vengjel Tavo, a member of Rama’s Socialist Party who is also of Greek origin.
