Fredi Beleri
Fredi Beleri (Albanian: Fredi Beleri [1]; Greek: Διονύσιος-Φρέντης [2] Μπελέρης), is an ethnically Greek politician of Albania who he was elected mayor of Himara, a coastal town in southern Albania with a significant Greek minority population.[3]. Beleri elected mayor in the 2023 local elections as candidate of Together We Win political coalition, an office he did not take after being arrested a few days earlier on corruption charges (vote buying). His arrest mobilized both the Greek community in Albania and the Greek government, which accused the Albanian authorities that attempt to hinder the political activities of the Greek minority. [4] In the trial that followed, he was sentenced to 2 years in prison. [5]
However, the Greek New Democracy party selected him as a candidate for the European Parliamentary candidacy ahead of the 2024 European elections. Belleris was elected as the party's MEP, with 46,434 votes. [6] He is expected to take over as Greece's MEP in the European Parliament on July 2.
Biography[edit]
He was born in Himarra in 1972. At the end of 1990, with the collapse of the regime in Albania and the opening of the borders, he settled in Greece. He was baptised as a Christian Orthodox in Zakynthos and took the name Dionysios. His political activity began there when he was elected a member of the "Board of Directors of the Peloponnese and Ionian Himariotes". In the first semester of 1994 he went to Cyprus where he attended seminars on the Greek language and on thermohydraulic installations, organised by the "Pancyprian Forum for the Help of Northern Epirus".
He settled permanently in Athens where he worked as a plumber and was a member of the "Himariotic Association and the Youth of Northern Epirus". In 2005 he started his studies at the Panteion University of Athens, department of International and European Studies. In the period 2006-2008 he was the General Secretary of the "Association of Himariots", while in the period 2008-2011 he was its President, where he developed an intense activity for the protection of the rights of the Hellenism of Himara. Since 2009 he has been a member of the General Council of Omonia, while in August 2014 was elected President of the "Omonoia Himara Branch".
In 2015 he settled permanently in Himara where he operates a restaurant. In February 2015 he was elected Vice President of the General Council of Omonoia.[7]
He is married and has two children.
Controversies[edit]
In March 1995 Beleris had been one of 7 persons arrested by Greek border guards near the Greco-Albanian border carrying weapons in the two cars they were driving, including 9 AK-47. It was believed they were planning an attack on an Albanian target, similarly to an attack to an Albanian military outpost by the organization Northern Epirus Liberation Front a year before. Beleris and other arrested faced charges for misdemeanors and, after their appeal, they were tried behind closed doors and were handed sentences of imprisonment for 18 up to 20 months for illegally owning guns.[8][9]
References[edit]
- ^ https://dosja.al/tag/fredi-beleri
- ^ "Φρέντης Μπελέρης: Καψόνι αλβανικών Αρχών σε στενό συγγενή του και ένα στέλεχος της Ομόνοιας - Η καταγγελία του Άγγελου Συρίγου". www.parapolitika.gr (in Greek). 2024-06-03. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
- ^ Iefimerida.Gr, Newsroom (2024-04-16). "Φρέντι Μπελέρης: Σπούδασε στο Πάντειο, έζησε στην Ελλάδα -Η πορεία του". iefimerida.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 2024-06-02.
- ^ https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-9-2023-001776_EN.html
- ^ https://neoskosmos.com/en/2024/03/06/news/world/ethnic-greek-mayor-fredi-beleri-sentenced-to-two-years-of-prison-in-albania/
- ^ https://www.neakriti.gr/ekloges/2059513_eyroekloges-aytoi-einai-oi-7-eyroboyleytes-tis-neas-dimokratias
- ^ https://www.gazetatema.net/2015/05/25/profili-dionisios-fredis-beleris-kush-eshte-kandidati-i-shumediskutuar-i-pbdnj-per-himaren
- ^ Δημήτρης Ψαρράς (29-05-2023). "Ο άγνωστος Φρέντι Μπελέρης". Η Εφημερίδα των Συντακτών (in Greek). Retrieved 12-06-2024.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ "Το «ξεχασμένο» παρελθόν του Φρέντι Μπελέρη – Όταν συνελήφθη στα σύνορα με καλάσνικοφ". ΤΑ ΝΕΑ (in Greek). 2024-04-18. Retrieved 12-06-2024.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help)
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