Fredi Beleri

The decision of the Central Electoral Commission of Albania to remove Fredi Beleri from the office of mayor of Himare, to which he was elected but never sworn in, completes a 14-month cycle of irregularities by the government of Edi Rama aiming to discredit the jailed ethnic Greek, who is also an MEP representing Greece's ruling New Democracy.

Greece's Foreign Ministry condemned Albania's decision to declare invalid the mandate of ethnic Greek Fredi Beleri as mayor of the the southern Albanian region of Himare, calling it a "pre-ordained outcome" fraught with legal issues. 

Albania's Central Electoral Commission revoked the mandate of Fredi Beleri, the ethnic Greek mayor-elect of Himare, on Friday. Beleri appeared at the hearing accompanied by a heavy police presence.

Chief Commissioner Ilirjan Celibashi stated that an appeal against the decision, effective immediately, can be filed within 30 days.

The authorities in Albania proceeded with the removal of Fredi Beleris from his position as Mayor of Himara.

An Albanian prison cell wouldn't rank high among choice spots to run a successful campaign for election to the European Parliament.

The Court of Appeal of Tirana on Tuesday upheld the two-year jail sentence issued by the court of first instance against Fredi Beleri, the elected ethnic Greek mayor of Himare in southern Albania, and now MEP for ruling New Democracy.

The ruling means Beleri won't be able to attend the first plenary session of the European Parliament from July 16 to 19 in Strasbourg.

Greece's Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Wednesday regarding an Albanian court's decision to reject an appeal by Fredi Beleri, an ethnic Greek elected mayor of Himara and more recently in the European Parliament, who will have to remain in prison until October.

Fredi Beleris has gone on the offensive.

A court of appeals in Tirana on Tuesday rejected an appeal by Fredi Beleri, the mayor-elect of the ethnic Greek city of Himare and an elected MEP for Greece, who ran as a New Democracy candidate in this month's European Parliament election.