Fredi Beleri

Fredi Beleri
MEP
Beleri in 2023
Member of the European Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office
16 July 2024
ConstituencyGreece
Personal details
Born (1972-08-09) 9 August 1972 (age 52)
Himarë, Vlorë County, Albania
Citizenship
  • Albania
  • Greece
Political partyNew Democracy (Greece)
Other political
affiliations		Unity for Human Rights Party[1] (Albania)
Together We Win (Albania)
Children2
Alma materPanteion University

Fredi Beleri (Albanian: Fredi Beleri;[2] Greek: Διονύσιος-Φρέντης Μπελέρης;[3] born 9 August 1972[4]) is an ethnically Greek politician from Albania who was elected mayor of Himarë. Beleri was elected mayor in the 2023 local elections as candidate of the Together We Win political coalition, an office he did not take after being arrested a few days earlier for vote buying. His arrest mobilized both the Greek community in Albania and the Greek government, which accused the Albanian authorities of attempting to hinder the political activities of Albania's Greek minority. In the trial that followed, he was sentenced to two years in prison; as a result of the conviction, Albania's Central Electoral Commission declared Beleri's mandate invalid, and decided to hold new elections. He was released on 3 September 2024, having served 2/3 of his sentence.

While in prison, Beleri was elected as MEP of the New Democracy party, in the 2024 European Parliament election in Greece.

  1. ^ "Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the arrest of Dionysis-Fredi Beleri, candidate for Mayor of the Municipality of Himare with the Unity for Human Rights Party (KEAD) (12.05.2023)".
  2. ^ "fredi beleri". Archived from the original on 5 January 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  3. ^ "Διονύσιος-Φρέντης Μπελέρης – Υποψήφιος Ευρωβουλευτής" (in Greek). New Democracy.
  4. ^ "Fredis Beleris – Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats)". www.europarl.europa.eu.