The Greek deputy of the New Democracy Party, Angelos Syrigos, met Fredi Beleri, the unsworn mayor of Himara, in prison.
In a statement to the media, he informed that Albania is not implementing the law, raising a question "Why Beleri is not allowed to take the oath to take office?".
He informed that, if measures are not taken, then Albania will suffer its consequences on the road to the European Union.
"He has been in prison for almost 3 months. The failure of the Albanian authorities, or not allowing him to take the oath, is creating a risk that he will leave his post as mayor of Himara. This will cause deterioration of relations between the 2 countries. We have 3 requirements, the first is respect for the law, the second is the right to presumption of innocence for the person who has been elected as mayor, and the third is respect for human rights. I will talk about the latter, because it is not understandable by us or by the EU that a person who has been elected does not go to the office to take an oath. There may be consequences for Albania's path to the EU and the negotiations that will start very soon.
I know of several cases of corruption in Albania, but only one case, that of Fredi Beleri, turns out to be in prison. I understand that he is in prison, why the government of Albania does not respect human rights and does not allow him to take office as mayor. His civil rights are being violated" , Syrigos said.
He has discovered what the next step will be.
"Unfortunately, the next step will happen in the EU. The EU plays an important role in respect of the rule of law and the civil minority ", said the Greek MP.
At the beginning of the month, SPAK brought the case against the elected mayor of Himara, Fredi Beleri, to trial. In the announcement, SPAK argued that from the evidence administered during the investigation, it turns out that it is proven that Alfred Beleri offered Arsen Rama 50 euros for every person he would find and who would vote for Beleri as a candidate for the mayor of Himara, in local elections on May 14. For the service that Arsen Rama would perform, he would be rewarded in the amount of 300 euros.
He is currently in prison, and he has not yet taken the oath as the mayor of Himara.