“Mission accomplished”! The Albanian SPAK Court, after an unprecedented, even by Albanian standards, staged trial, whose indictment had collapsed on the first day, executed the political mandate of Edi Rama and announced the sentence of the elected Mayor of Himara, Fredi Beleri, to two years in prison.
F. Beleris should normally be released on 12 September as by then he will have effectively served his sentence with the period of pre-trial detention, but the conviction on his criminal record will have led to his disqualification from office.
The appeal brought by his lawyers is not expected to be heard before June so even if his sentence is reduced, as overturning the decision is not considered likely, it will simply speed up his release from prison, but having permanently lost the office of Mayor of Himarra.
Thus, E.Rama seems to win the “game” and despite the blatant violations of every concept of the rule of law, to achieve the removal of F.Beleri from the Municipality of Himarra, which he wants to keep under his control in order to serve the interests that are close to the Prime Minister’s office and are interested in the “tourist development” of Himarra.
With this method E.Rama believes that he is neutralising the pressure from Athens, which was asking for the oath of office to be given until the case is finalised and at the same time he will now have the freedom to appoint an interim mayor of his choice and possibly call new elections in Himara, after the disqualification of Beleri, who will not be a candidate and therefore it will be easy to elect the candidate he proposes.
The condemnation of F. Beleri was predestined and E. Rama did not hesitate for a moment to implement this impudent plan counting on the indifference of the EU on this issue. and the USA, as the only reactions came from Athens, which has raised obstacles to Albania’s European course.
The initial reaction of the Greek Foreign Ministry yesterday was particularly low-key and raises questions about the fact that while it refers to a violation of the rule of law and questions the legality of the proceedings so far, it states that “the Greek government will closely monitor the case and looks forward to a fair and objective judgment in the second instance of jurisdiction”.
When of course no one expects that in the Court of Appeal the Beleri case will have a different fate than in the SPAK Court which has shown that it is simply carrying out the orders of the political leadership.
The “legal” approach to the reaction of Athens probably facilitates the aspirations of E.Rama , as it is obvious that it is not the Justice but the political power that chose to orchestrate the annulment of the election result and the hijacking of the Municipality of Himara.
And with this formulation the argument of the Albanian side that the whole Beleri case is a matter that is being investigated by the “independent” Albanian Justice and thus there should be no outside interference in its work is essentially legitimized.
It is also problematic that there was no mention of the Albanian government’s obligation to recognise the results of the elections in Himara.
The big question now is whether Athens, despite the not-so-favorable environment, will insist on putting pressure on Tirana to give a second fair trial and to vindicate Beleri or will it accept the mockery of the Albanian Authorities that lead to a coercive disqualification of F. Beleri from the office of Mayor of Himarra.
The next steps are not only limited to defending the rights of F.Beleri and respecting the will of the citizens of Himara as expressed in the elections of May 2023, but above all E.Rama should not consider that he has a “blank cheque” to launch the plans for the “tourist redevelopment and development” of Himara with the expropriation of Greek properties.
Because we should not forget that the Beleri case is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the protection of the rights of the Greek National Minority in Albania, but also in the braiding of Greek-Albanian relations where Athens still expects Rama to fulfill his commitment to refer the dispute over the delimitation of the EEZ to Hague.
However, the Greek government cannot and must not allow the fait accompli imposed by E.Rama through this judicial frame-up.
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Good relations with Albania should be the goal, but good relations cannot be built on this basis, as the Beleri case does not only concern an elected minority mayor but the entire Greek National Minority and the way the Albanian government treats it.
And of course all this is an example of how the Albanian Prime Minister himself deals with his relations with Greece, believing that he will impose conditions and Greece will simply accept them.
However, F.Beleris did not seem to be discouraged by the Court’s decision, stating that he will fight the “battle” to the end.
With a fake criminal record, no evidence, no other witnesses except for one who was paid by the police, with an “appointed” judge, in a glass cage without communication with my lawyer, today the Albanian court sentenced me to two years in prison.
My crime is that we Himarrans want to be the masters of our ancestral land.
My crime is that my fellow Himarans elected me Mayor against the plans of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.
European Union and USA, is this the Justice you want for us? I leave the judges to the mockery of the Albanian people.
I will continue my fight for Justice and Democracy in the name of my fellow citizens. Sooner or later, I will find justice.
I have as much patience as it takes to reach the end of this case.”
