Albania releases jailed Greek MEP

(ANSA-AFP) - TIRANA, SEP 2 - An Albanian court on Monday granted conditional release to a Greek member of the European Parliament, Fredi Beleri, who had just weeks left on his two-year sentence for vote-buying, according to a state broadcaster. Beleri, a member of Albania's Greek minority, made headlines this year after he was elected on the conservative list of Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis as an MEP despite being behind bars. The dual national had been arrested days before municipal elections in Albania in May 2023, accused of offering 40,000 leks ($445) in exchange for votes. He did not take up his post as mayor. "The court accepted our request to conditionally release Fredi Beleri while he still had about six weeks to serve," his lawyer Geni Gjyzari said Monday, according to the Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA). Beleri was temporarily released in mid-July to attend the European Parliament's inaugural session in Strasbourg, France. He then returned to Albania serve out the rest of his sentence, according to the country's prison administration. Beleri has called his conviction politically motivated, a claim the Albanian government rejects. The Beleri case has caused friction between Athens and Tirana, with the Greek government voicing concerns "regarding the impartiality of the legal proceedings". Athens also warned that the case could impact Albania's EU accession efforts. But Tirana insists that Beleri has a shady past, including links to extremists. (ANSA-AFP).