From Strasbourg, the New Democracy MEP, Fredi Beleris, sent a message saying he will “take it to the end.”

“I want to believe that my ordeal regarding my detention is nearing its end. In any case, if I am not released after serving 2/3 of my sentence, my sentence will end in mid-October,” he stated in an interview with Open Channel.

“Of course, my legal ordeal will continue for years, as it will be adjudicated in Strasbourg. I will take it to the very end; I believe a great injustice has been done, and we face a legal marathon until the final decision is issued by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg,” Beleris added.

Regarding his new role as an MEP and its impact on the indigenous ethnic Greek minority of Himara and more widely of northern Epirus, he emphasized that “it will certainly be a priority for me to highlight the issues related to the Rule of Law and the right of self-determination, which is not respected in Albania. The results of the recent census are far from truthful. The data has been falsified.”

“I believe that with the platform I have in the European Parliament, I can spotlight and bring to the attention of all of Europe the issues faced by the Greek minority and Albanian citizens,” he concluded.