The European Court of Human Rights ruled on November 10 that Albania violated the rights of Fredi Beleri by keeping him in pre-trial detention without sufficient grounds for several months after his arrest in 2023. The Strasbourg court unanimously found no violation regarding his initial arrest in Himara on May 12, 2023, which occurred two days before local elections. However, it determined that his continued detention from at least July 19, when he was indicted, was no longer justified. The judges noted that Albanian courts placed excessive weight on the alleged "particular dangerousness" of the offence and failed to reconsider whether continued detention remained necessary when examining Beleri’s requests for alternative measures.
Judgment Details and Political Fallout
Beleri spent nine months and 21 days in detention before being convicted on March 5, 2024. He won the Himara mayoral election while in prison but was never allowed to take office, as Albania’s election commission revoked his mandate in July 2024. Meanwhile, he secured 236,271 votes to enter the European Parliament on New Democracy’s ticket. The court awarded him €450 in non-pecuniary damages and €5,000 in legal costs, substantially below the €50,000 he had sought. It rejected his claim for lost income as Himara mayor, finding no causal link with the violation. The ruling does not overturn his conviction for vote buying or the two-year prison sentence imposed by an Albanian court and upheld on appeal in June 2024.
This case strained relations between Albania and Greece, threatening to complicate Albania’s EU accession process. Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis warned in 2023 that Albania’s EU accession process could not proceed amid what he called "such a violation of the rule of law". Prime Minister Edi Rama insisted the judicial process should take its course, while Kyriakos Mitsotakis linked Athens’ support for Albania’s EU bid to the protection of the country’s ethnic Greek minority. Relations have since improved, with Rama and Mitsotakis agreeing in April to work towards a new strategic partnership by the end of 2026. In April, Rama said 58% of Albania’s prisoners were awaiting trial, describing prolonged pre-trial detention as "an unfortunate episode". Albania’s Supreme Court has since ruled that judges must reassess detention at every stage of proceedings, with prosecutors bearing the burden of justifying its continuation.
