The elected mayor of Himara Municipality, Fredi Beleri, gave an interview to the Greek media outlet “Kathimerini”, where he described the conditions of his pretrial detention, fifty days after his arrest.

He called his arrest a conspiracy and said he had been targeted because there was information that many Himara residents were preparing to come from Athens to vote and the Socialist Party realized they would lose Himara.

He stated that his arrest was made two days before the elections in a cinematic manner, as if he were a terrorist. Beleri also added that he has not been summoned for any investigative session so far, and the charges against him are filled with fabrications.

Beleri also thanked the Greek Prime Minister, stating that he expects the international community to take the pretrial detention and accusations against the elected mayor of Himara seriously, as it concerns a minority.

Fredi Beleri’s interview with Kathimerini journalist Yannis Souliotis

Yannis Souliotis: Mr. Beleri, first of all, how are you? You have been detained for 50 days. What are the conditions you are facing in prison?

Fredi Beleri: My friend, I am 50 years old. Not only my peers but also the older generation, members of the Greek ethnic minority in Albania, we were born and raised under the [former leader of Albania, Enver] Hoxha dictatorial regime. For us, freedom and human rights are not self-evident, as they are for you. They are an ongoing battle to achieve. And when we have them, we live with the agony of not losing them.

For me, after my election, it no longer matters where I am but where I am not. I should have been in my position as the Mayor of Himara, defending the rights of my fellow citizens, Albanians or Greeks. Throughout the election campaign, I spoke as an Albanian citizen who aspires to the progress and well-being of his country, its integrative path to the EU.

An Albanian citizen of Greek ethnicity who sees in the relationship between the Greek Ethnic Minority and the Albanian Government the precedent that can convince the Albanian state and the international community about the rule of law and the liberal democracy that functions throughout its territory.

Yannis Souliotis: What happened on the eve of the local elections in which you and your collaborator were arrested under the flagrante delicto procedure and accused of attempting to buy votes? Describe the events to us.

Fredi Beleri: Nothing. It was simply the expiration of the time frame set by the criminal state to eliminate me. They struck when they learned how many Himara residents were preparing to come from Athens to vote and realized they were losing in Himara. For those who do not know, the authorities in Albania do not consider Himara as a minority region.

On Thursday evening, two days before the elections, after a hectic day, I was sitting in a café with my lawyer and my cousin, discussing and relaxing.

They arrested us there in a cinematic manner, similar to the arrest of international terrorists. They wanted to disrupt the wave of fellow citizens coming from Athens to vote and terrorize Albanian citizens who supported me. Since then, they have kept me in pretrial detention and prevented me from assuming my duties. Their aim is to eliminate me from the post after fulfilling my three-month absence from the Municipal Council, which took place on 27 June, and to invalidate the elections, as provided by Albanian electoral law.

Yannis Souliotis: Did you or your collaborator make any mistakes that provided a pretext for the Albanian authorities to accuse you?

Fredi Beleri: None. Some 15 days ahead of the elections, it became clear from the electoral climate that I would win. In the polls, more than 3 out of 10 voters for [Albanian Prime Minister Edi] Rama and 4 out of 10 voters of Albanian ethnicity were voting for me, not for his preferred candidate, the departing mayor after a 12-year term. In the last 7 days, Rama himself started a denigrating attack against me, using insults and unprecedented characterizations in public speech, while regime-friendly media outlets launched a revenge campaign against the Greek minority. I called on him to rise above and assured him that the day after my election, I would only have problems as opponents and would rush to cooperate with him for as long as he remained prime minister.

The regime wants to keep the Municipality of Himara under its control at all costs. If I were to fulfill my duties, evidence that is currently not publicly accessible would come to my knowledge. This evidence involves the seizure of properties belonging to members of the Greek ethnic minority and their transfer to “investors”. It concerns evidence of violence through the threat of denying property titles and obliging individuals to sign project agreements to sell their property to those recommended by them.

Yannis Souliotis: How have they treated you during the investigation?

Fredi Beleri: They have not summoned me for any investigative session so far. They have been keeping me in detention, and they haven’t even asked for my name!

Yannis Souliotis: Are you familiar with the judicial file? Are there any elements you can share that indicate that your prosecution does not stem from concrete events but rather has political motives?

Fredi Beleri: There are numerous violations of legal procedures. The judicial file provided to us was practically empty, without any basic evidence. The accusation is filled with illegality and fabrications.

It is noteworthy that my penal testimony, included in the file, has been falsified. It is different from the one issued two months ahead of the elections, which we submitted to the Central Election Commission. The latter was genuine, as it enabled my registration and announcement as a candidate.

I am the only Albanian citizen, among 31 other criminal cases related to election violations in the recent local elections, and also the only one in the 32 years of holding elections, to whom the restrictive condition of “pretrial detention” has been applied with the accusation that one of my supporters might have bought votes, meaning the accusation of collusion in election corruption.

Despite all this, I believe that there are judges in Albania. Soon, some judge will rise to affirm their own personality against the regime, defending not me, but the body of judges, the institution, and the integrative path of Albania towards the EU, the rule of law, and human rights.

Yannis Souliotis: What are the underlying reasons for your prosecution? Why does Edi Rama’s regime want to control the Municipality of Himara at any cost? What is the goal? Is it aimed at the Greek minority, or are the motives economic?

Fredi Beleri: It is both, complementary to each other. They support their investor friends and sever the umbilical cord between the Greek ethnic minority and the region, where they have their ancestral property. By uprooting the Greek ethnic minority, they guarantee the interests of their cronies.

We want to see our country develop and members of the Greek ethnic minority enjoy prosperity in their own land. Meanwhile, the regime seeks to benefit from the uniqueness of the region and witness the permanent and irreversible uprooting of the Greek ethnic minority after they have lost their ancestral property. Think about how many of you have forgotten your village because you have not preserved your ancestral property there.

Furthermore, with my persecution and pretrial detention, the regime sends a message for the present and the future, a message of its determination. Imprisonment and de facto denial of the right to be elected are clear messages of force and terrorism. Fear will prevail among those who react against the regime, fearing the same fate.

Yannis Souliotis: Do you believe that your prosecution and pretrial detention take on the character of an ethnic issue that affects Greece-Albania relations?

Fredi Beleri: First and foremost, allow me to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Prime Minister of Greece, as well as the entire political class and society of Greece, including Greek Members of the European Parliament, for their decisive, essential, and correct support thus far.

Greece, as the homeland of democracy, understands the importance of violating the right to vote. I do not want the behavior of the Albanian regime towards me to affect Greece-Albania relations. But I expect and hope that it serves as an opportunity for Albania to change its behavior towards the Greek Minority and transform into a state of law, into a liberal democracy.

I expect the international community to take the pretrial detention and accusations against the elected mayor of Himara, who belongs to a minority, seriously. The defense of human rights and the principles of democracy is a collective effort, not a one-sided endeavor. Both the President of the United States and the President of the European Union, as well as the heads of international organizations, and mayors in any corner of the Western world defend the same democracy, the same human rights, and the same state of law.

Yannis Souliotis: What is your message to the citizens of Himara, and how do you assess the continuation of your case?

Fredi Beleri: I ask them to be patient, not to lose their faith in democracy and the rule of law, and to continue defending their rights.

Because on 15 May, democracy won in Himara. I am grateful to all those who showed courage, but also to all those who succumbed to terror.

For me, there are no winners and losers. All the citizens of Himara and I, as the first among equals, will soon march together, united, to become even stronger.

Personally, I draw strength from their strength and endure as a citizen who is accustomed to defending his ideas for freedom and democracy.

According to authorities, Fredi Beleri was arrested on the basis of wiretaps revealing a third person would give him a list of names of those who would vote for him if he paid them equivalent to 45 euros. In addition, it is alleged that Beleri promised to pay the intermediary around 300 euros, but that all transactions took place via an intermediary, rather than with Beleri himself.

Beleri has denied all charges against him and says that his arrest is a politically motivated setup, a stance supported by Athens.