Pantelis Kokavesis

An Albanian court on Tuesday convicted a mayor from the country's Greek minority to two years in prison for buying votes, a ruling that was expected to raise tensions with neighboring Greece.

The Special Court on Corruption and Organized Crime also handed Pantelis Kokavesis, Beleri's aide, an 18-month suspended sentence.

The ethnic-Greek mayor-elect of the Albanian town of Himare Fredi Beleri should receive a jail sentence of two and a half years, Albanian prosecutors said at his trial on Tuesday.

On March 11, 2023, the night before municipal elections in Albania, the then candidate for mayor of Himare, the ethnic Greek Fredi Beleri, and his aide, Pantelis Kokavesis, were arrested by the police. Months later, and while he has already been elected mayor, Beleri remains in pre-trial detention.

On the evening of March 11, 2023, the eve of the municipal elections in neighboring Albania, the then candidate for mayor of Himare, ethnic Greek Fredi Beleri, and his aide, Pantelis Kokavesis, were arrested by the police for allegedly attempting to buy votes. Almost two months later, and while he has already been elected mayor, Beleri remains in pre-trial detention.

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.

A Court of Appeal in Tirana extended the pretrial detention of the ethnic Greek mayor-elect of Himare who was arrested over an alleged election crime, state-run broadcaster ERT reported on Thursday.

Fredi Beleri was detained just two days before local elections that were held in southern Albania on May 14 over alleged voter bribery but still won the mayoral race. 

Foreign Minister Vassilis Kaskarelis asked for the release of two ethnic Greek men who were imprisoned during a mayoral election campaign in Albania at a meeting with the country's counterpart Olta Xhacka, diplomatic sources said on Thursday.

The request was made on the sidelines of the informal Summit of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs taking place in Oslo.

Foreign Minister Vassilis Kaskarelis is on Wednesday expected to meet Albanian counterpart Olta Xhacka, on the sidelines of the informal meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in Oslo to discuss the release of a jailed ethnic Greek official.