Beleri accuses Albanian PM of manipulating justice

Fredi Beleri, an ethnic Greek mayor-elect in southern Albania recently sentenced to two years in prison for vote-buying, and a candidate for the upcoming European Parliament elections with Greece's ruling New Democracy party, has accused Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama of manipulating justice to prevent him from assuming his duties and to undermine his candidacy.

"My goal was to assume my duties as the mayor of Himare. Given that the Albanian regime and Mr Rama control the judiciary and almost all powers in Albania, they did not allow me to take on the responsibilities assigned to me by the people of Himare, [effectively] staging a coup," Beleri said in an interview with Alpha TV late Tuesday.

He said that since taking over as prime minister in 2013, Rama had been "distinguishing us Greeks living and operating in Albania into good and bad, into subordinates and...