An Albanian court has granted conditional release to Greek member of the European Parliament (MEP) Freddy Belleri, who was just weeks away from serving a two-year sentence for vote-buying, AFP reports.
Belleri, a member of Albania's Greek minority, made headlines this year after he was elected to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis's conservative list of MEPs despite being behind bars.
The dual citizen was arrested days before Albania's municipal elections in May 2023. He was accused of offering 40,000 leks ($445) in exchange for votes.
He did not take office as mayor.
"The court accepted our request to parole Freddie Belleri while he still had about six weeks to serve," said his lawyer Geni Gizari.
Belleri was temporarily released in mid-July to attend the opening session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.
According to the country's prison administration, he has since returned to Albania to serve the remainder of his sentence.
Belleri described his sentence as politically motivated, a claim that the Albanian government has rejected.
His case has sparked tensions between Athens and Tirana. The Greek government expressed concern "about the impartiality of the judicial proceedings".
Athens has also warned that the case could affect Albania's EU accession efforts.
But Tirana insists that Belleri has a dubious past, including links to extremists. | BGNES
