In a complaint made by Associate Professor of International Law, Angelos Syrigos, it was reported that Albanian police detained Fredi Beleris’ cousin, Giannis, and an Omonia official from Himara for hours, considering election leaflets and ballots from the New Democracy party as…terrorist material.
As he stated on SKAI, the ordeal for the two men began at 11 PM on Sunday when they crossed the border checkpoint at Mavromati in Thesprotia.
According to Mr. Syrigos, the Albanians who stopped them for a check found election leaflets of Fredi Beleris and ballots of the New Democracy party in the two men’s car, as they had participated in a gathering for the New Democracy’s candidate for the European Parliament at a central hotel in Athens on Sunday morning.
The Albanians then informed Fredi Beleris’ cousin and the Omonia official that they needed to call the Anti-Terrorism Unit to verify whether the election leaflets and ballots were indeed terrorist material.
However, since the Anti-Terrorism Unit in Albania operates only until 10 PM, as Mr. Syrigos mentioned, the two men remained detained until dawn on Monday. They were released once it was determined that they were not carrying anything suspicious.
The Greek embassy in Albania was informed about the harassment from the very beginning, and the General Consul of Argyrocastro stayed with the two men throughout the night.
