Elected MEP Fredi Beleris will remain in prison until October, following the decision of the Court of Appeal of the Special Anti-Corruption Court in Albania , which heard his case in the second instance in Tirana.

The court decided to uphold the original 24-month sentence. As a result, Fredi Beleris will not go to Strasbourg in July to be sworn in.

Fredi Beleris was convicted both at first instance and at second instance for active bribery.

If the Court of Appeal decision reduced his sentence to 20 months or less, he would be released immediately.

Beleris: From now on, Rama will have the problem

“In any European country and in any judicial system that operated with the rule of law, my acquittal would have been the only outcome regardless of my election or not. From now on, Rama will have the problem,” emphasizes Fredi Beleris, elected MEP and elected mayor of Himara, in an interview with CNN Greece from the Albanian prisons where he is being held.

“Rama acted like a common coup plotter. I endured for so many months despite the injustice and the coup against me. I will endure a few more weeks if necessary,” notes the elected MEP with New Democracy, stating that he has announced that he will appeal to the European Court for his case “and then some will not know where to hide.”

In the same interview, Fredi Beleris assesses that the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, is interested in his country joining the European family “only in words.” “In actions, however, what he does distances Albania from Europe. A European perspective with the violation of the rule of law – as has happened in my case – does not exist,” he emphasizes.