Albanian authorities strip ethnic Greek mayor of his post for alleged vote buying

Associated Press

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanian election authorities have stripped an ethnic Greek minority mayor of his post after he was imprisoned on charges of vote-buying in municipal elections last year. Fredis Beleris was elected mayor of the Albanian city of Himare, which has a Greek minority presence, in May 2023. He was arrested two days earlier while allegedly offering $390 to buy eight votes. Last month an Albanian appeals court upheld a two-year prison sentence for Beleris, a move which exacerbated tensions with neighboring Greece. Beleris has denied the charges, and Athens has described his detention as politically motivated.