Next Monday (May 22), at noon, the Special Court of Tirana will be decided whether the newly elected mayor of Heimarra Freddy Beleris and his associate Pantelis Kokavesi will be released or continue their pre-trial detention, as it became known from judicial and diplomatic sources in Albanian capital city.

In his statement, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US Senate, Bob Menendez, described the arrest of Freddy Belleri as problematic.

“I understand that free and fair elections, including independent courts, are fundamental elements of a democracy, but I am concerned about the arrest of a citizen of Greek nationality by the Albanian Police, Dionysis Beleris, two days before the elections. While we wait for the evidence to emerge, the Greek government has made it clear that this would have a negative development for Albania’s European perspective. What are we doing to confirm that the Albanian authorities are violating the rule of law and what is our next move?” said yesterday during the hearing in the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, the American senator.
In ⁦@SFRCdems⁩ hearing on #WesternBalkans, ⁦@SenatorMenendez⁩ raises the Beleri arrest and the rule of law in Albania. #FreeFrediBeleri pic.twitter.com/aTnzuotn4z

— HellenicLeaders (@HellenicLeaders) May 18, 2023

In ⁦@SFRCdems⁩ hearing on #WesternBalkans, ⁦@SenatorMenendez⁩ raises the Beleri arrest and the rule of law in Albania. #FreeFrediBeleri pic.twitter.com/aTnzuotn4z

— HellenicLeaders (@HellenicLeaders) May 18, 2023

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Yesterday, the Secretary General of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Haris Lalakos, visited Freddy Beleris in Avlonas prisons in order to see up close the conditions of his detention and the state of his health. The next developments in the matter will depend on Monday’s decision, which primarily concerns the official assumption of the mayor’s duties by Freddy Beleris.

The whole case, which has caused strong reactions, beyond the National Greek Minority of Albania and in Greece, is now handled by the Prosecutor’s Office for the fight against corruption (SPAK).