Ethnic Greek politician and MEP is released on probation in Albania

A former ethnic Greek mayor of an Albanian town, whose imprisonment on vote-buying charges has strained Albanian-Greek ties, has been released on probation, his office and a lawyer said Monday.

Fredi Beleri was freed after a court in Fier, 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of the capital, Tirana, where he was serving a two-year sentence, accepted his request to be released on probation with six weeks remaining in his prison term, lawyer Eugen Gjyzari said.

A rally to celebrate his freedom was planned in his town of Hiamare, according to the Democratic Union of the Greek Minority, known as Omonoia, a social, political and cultural organization that promotes minority rights for the Greek minority in Albania.

Beleri, 51, was arrested two days before the May 14, 2023, municipal elections in Himara, a town populated by ethnic Greeks on what has been dubbed the...