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Greek mayor leaves Albania jail to be European Parliament lawmaker
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ethnic-greek-mayor-albania-leaves-jail-take-oath-european-parliament-2024-07-15/Greek mayor leaves Albania jail to be European Parliament lawmaker
By Reuters
July 15, 2024 8:21 AM EDT Updated 9 hours ago
TIRANA, July 15 (Reuters) - Ethnic Greek politician Fredi Beleri left an Albanian jail on Monday to travel to Strasbourg to take the oath as a European Parliament lawmaker but will return to serve his sentence on vote-buying charges.
[...]
Beleri was arrested in May 2023 during a mayoral election campaign in his hometown of Himare in Albania, which has an active ethnic Greek community. He subsequently won the vote but was never sworn in while being held in pre-trial detention before being jailed for two years in March this year for election fraud.
[...]
Beleri's case has strained relations between Albania and Greece, Balkan neighbours whose ties have often soured over cultural and historical differences, as well as the many Albanian immigrants in Greece and the Greek minority in Albania.
It remains unclear how Beleri will carry out his role as a European Parliament lawmaker during the remainder of his time in prison, to which he has to return on July 20.
[...]
By Reuters
July 15, 2024 8:21 AM EDT Updated 9 hours ago
TIRANA, July 15 (Reuters) - Ethnic Greek politician Fredi Beleri left an Albanian jail on Monday to travel to Strasbourg to take the oath as a European Parliament lawmaker but will return to serve his sentence on vote-buying charges.
[...]
Beleri was arrested in May 2023 during a mayoral election campaign in his hometown of Himare in Albania, which has an active ethnic Greek community. He subsequently won the vote but was never sworn in while being held in pre-trial detention before being jailed for two years in March this year for election fraud.
[...]
Beleri's case has strained relations between Albania and Greece, Balkan neighbours whose ties have often soured over cultural and historical differences, as well as the many Albanian immigrants in Greece and the Greek minority in Albania.
It remains unclear how Beleri will carry out his role as a European Parliament lawmaker during the remainder of his time in prison, to which he has to return on July 20.
[...]