Appeal in Albania expected to decide today for Beler, Greek ambassador attends session

In March, the Special Court sentenced Beler to two years in prison for accusing him of stealing votes in the May 14th 2023 local elections.

His defense has complained against the court's first-instance ruling and sought his release. At Friday's session at the Court of Appeals are attending his family and supporters, including Greek Ambassador to Tirana Constantina Kamitsi.

Beler and his defence lawyers have described the charges as political and groundless.

Beler won a seat in the European Parliament as representative of the ruling party in Greece, New Democracy, in the June elections.

The head of the Greek minority association in Albania “Omonia”, Marin Suli, has told Radio Free Europe that Beler has claimed that, if declared innocent, he “would choose the mandate of the mayor of Himara” before the eurodeput seat.

Alfred Beler's election as European Parliament MP prompted controversy both over his legitimacy and the impact of his case on Albania's European integration.

Lawyers and international relations experts say his case raises constitutional and legal concerns.

According to them, it could affect Albania's efforts for membership in the European Union as well as its relations with Greece.

Alfred Beler, with Albanian and Greek citizenship, was the opposition candidate for the mayor of the Himare city, also inhabited by Greek population in southern Albania, in the May 2023 elections.

He was arrested a few days before the elections under suspicion of vote buying.

Despite being in custody at the time, Beler won the election, but he never swore. In March of this year, he was sentenced to two years in prison.

The case sparked great criticism in Athens, where the Foreign Ministry said that “of the two-year sentence is undoubtedly unproportional with the measure of the supposed” work.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis's party then named him candidate for the European Parliament elections, which were held from June 6th to 9th, where he was elected./ REL/