European Court Rules Albania Unjustifiably Detained Greek MEP Fredi Beleri

by · Greek City Times

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Albania violated the rights of Greek MEP Fredi Beleri by keeping him in pre-trial detention for months without sufficient justification following his indictment in 2023.

In a unanimous judgment delivered on November 10, the Strasbourg court found that Albanian authorities had failed to properly assess whether Beleri’s continued detention remained necessary or whether alternative measures could have secured his appearance at trial.

The ruling concerns Beleri’s detention following his arrest in Himara on May 12, 2023, just two days before local elections.

However, the court distinguished between his initial arrest and the period that followed. It found no violation of his right to liberty under Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights in relation to his initial detention.

Read more: What Europe’s Rights Court Found About Karpasia’s Enclaved Greek Cypriots

The violation occurred after his indictment on July 19, 2023, when the authorities failed to provide sufficient reasons for keeping him behind bars.

The judges said Albanian courts had placed excessive weight on the alleged seriousness of the offence and had not genuinely considered whether the length of his detention had exceeded a reasonable period.

They also found that the courts had failed to properly examine whether non-custodial measures could have been used instead.

Court awards Beleri €5,450

The European Court of Human Rights awarded Beleri €450 in compensation for non-pecuniary damage and a further €5,000 in legal costs.

The amount was significantly below the €50,000 he had sought.

The court also rejected his claim for lost income as mayor of Himara, finding no sufficient connection between the violation and the financial losses claimed.

Importantly, the judgment does not overturn Beleri’s conviction for vote buying or the two-year prison sentence imposed by Albanian courts.

His conviction was upheld on appeal in June 2024.

A case that strained Greek-Albanian relations

Beleri, an ethnic Greek politician and member of Greece’s governing New Democracy party in the European Parliament, became a major point of tension between Athens and Tirana.

He won the Himara mayoral election in May 2023 while in prison but was never permitted to take office. Albania’s election commission revoked his mayoral mandate in July 2024.

During his imprisonment, Beleri was also elected to the European Parliament, receiving 236,271 votes in Greece’s 2024 European elections.

He was conditionally released in September 2024.

The case prompted strong reactions from the Greek government, which questioned Albania’s commitment to the rule of law and the protection of its ethnic Greek minority.

In 2023, Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis warned that Albania’s European Union accession ambitions could be affected by what he described as a serious rule-of-law concern.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis later linked Greece’s support for Albania’s EU membership ambitions to the protection of the country’s ethnic Greek minority.

Albania’s EU ambitions remain under scrutiny

The latest judgment comes as Albania seeks to complete its EU accession negotiations by the end of 2027.

The Strasbourg court’s findings also highlight broader concerns about the country’s use of pre-trial detention.

In April, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said that 58 per cent of the country’s prisoners were awaiting trial, describing prolonged pre-trial detention as an unfortunate situation.

Albania’s Supreme Court has since ruled that judges must reassess detention at every stage of proceedings, with prosecutors required to justify why a suspect should remain in custody.

Judicial reform and fundamental rights remain important parts of Albania’s EU accession process.

Despite the tensions caused by the Beleri case, relations between Athens and Tirana have improved. Mitsotakis and Rama agreed in April to work towards a new strategic partnership by the end of 2026.

The two governments have also sought to revive discussions over referring their maritime boundary dispute to the International Court of Justice.

The European Court of Human Rights judgment does not decide the underlying vote-buying case. It establishes that Albania failed to adequately justify Beleri’s continued pre-trial detention after his indictment.

Stay connected to Greek City Times for Free on Google News
Click NOW
Stay updated with the latest news from Greece and around the world on greekcitytimes.com.
Contact our newsroom to share your updates, stories, photos, or videos. Follow GCT on WhatsApp, Google News and Apple News.

Related coverage

Advertising