Athens decries continued detention of Himare mayor-elect

The continued pretrial detention of ethnic Greek mayor-elect Fredi Beleri by the Albanian authorities is not consistent with the rule of law, the Greek Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The ministry was responding to a decision by the Court of Appeal in Tirana to extend the pretrial detention of the mayor-elect of the predominantly ethnic Greek town of Himare in Albania.

It added that Beleri's continued detention is also unjust given that he is the only of 31 elected officials accused of tampering with the vote in the May 14 local elections who is still in custody.

The same court, meanwhile, agreed to release his aide, Pantelis Kokavesis, for health reasons, on condition he reports to the police.