Ethnic Greek politician returns to prison in Albania after attending European Parliament opening

TIRANA, Albania — TIRANA, Albania (AP) — A member of Albania’s ethnic Greek minority returned to prison Saturday after a five-day reprieve to attend the opening session of the European Parliament where he was elected to represent Greece’s ruling party.

Fredis Beleris, who holds dual Greek-Albanian citizenship, is serving a two-year prison sentence for vote-buying in municipal elections last year in Albania. He denies the charges, and Greece has described the case against him as being politically motivated.

“I am not sorry to go back to the (prison) cell,” said Beleris upon landing at Tirana International Airport.

The 51-year-old politician won the European Parliament after getting a place on Greece’s governing New Democracy party ticket in last month’s European elections. He received 238,801 votes, the fourth among the seven members elected for the party.

European Parliament members enjoy legal immunity from prosecution within the 27-state bloc, even for allegations relating to crimes committed prior to their election. But Albania is not an EU member yet.

Beleris was arrested two days before the May 14, 2023 municipal elections in Himara, with a large ethnic Greek minority in the town on the Albanian Riviera, 220 kilometers (140 miles) southwest of the capital Tirana. He was charged with offering about 40,000 Albanian leks (360 euros or $390) to buy eight votes.

He won last year’s municipal election with a 19-vote lead, backed by the ethnic Greek minority party and others opposing Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s governing Socialists. But he never took office, being detained until his court conviction in March. An appeals court upheld the ruling last month, and Albanian authorities stripped Beleris of his post as mayor of Himara, where a new election will be held Aug. 4.