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TIRANA, September 18 – Lawyers of the Assembly of Bar Associations of Greece who came from Greece and the ambassador of Greece in Tirana, attended the court session at the Anticorruption Court of Appeal on Monday, where Fredi Beleri’s request to be released from prison was rejected.
Arrested on the charge of vote buying, Beleri, the winning candidate of the elections for the Municipality of Himara on May 14, has not taken the oath yet, and that is why he is asking to be released from jail. After hearing the claims of the parties the Court of Appeal ruled to dismiss the request, leaving Beleri in prison.
The President of the Assembly of Bar Chambers of Greece, Dimitros Vervesos and the president of Lawyers Without Borders, Patrick Heny asked the Albanian authorities to find a way for Beleri’s oath in a statement to the media in Tirana on Monday.
“The first point is the violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which states that when an elected body is prevented from performing its duties, when there is no definitive criminal penalty that prohibits this which, according to the law, justifies his dismissal from office. In this case, when we have detention as an irrevocable judgment is not included, he avoids the obligation to exercise his duties as mayor, where he has chosen to support the interests of those who have elected him,” said the lawyers.
According to them, this is a condition that prevents him from representing his voters and contradicts the effectiveness of the elections held on May 14, thus undermining the will of the people, the Greek lawyers said.
Beleri was arrested two days before the local elections. According to SPAK, he was caught red-handed while buying votes in local elections. Initially, an investigation was launched against him at the Prosecutor’s Office of Vlora, while the case was then passed on to SPAK. / argumentuma.al
