Fredi Beleri addressed a letter from the cell to Himara, while today the Municipal Council is constituted, resulting from the May 14 elections.
We remind you that a day ago the Special Court rejected the request of Fredi Beleri, who asked to go this Tuesday before the Municipal Council and swear in as the mayor of Himara. Along with the court, the Prison Directorate also closed the door to the elected president.
The special permits, according to the law, are given to those who have a death or wedding of a close family member, or when they have to take exams. The request to leave the prison for a few hours to take the oath of office was considered by the prisons to be beyond the law.
“Dear councillors, dear citizens of the Municipality of Himara, Today, on the day of taking office as the mayor of Himarë, although I asked for permission to participate and at the same time the responsibility that you charged me with the results of the elections of May 14, 2023, I was refused.
After the slanderous and vulgar attack on me by Edi Rama in the last election week, my illegal arrest two days before the election race, my detention for 45 days, today they prevented me from taking office, alienating for the moment, and the result of the elections.
Despite this, I still believe in the power of truth. I still believe in the power of goodness and virtue. The unprecedented attack and the 45 days of my unjust detention do not change my deep faith in democracy, rights, institutions and, first of all, citizens. I believe and I invite you to believe that this ordeal will not have a cross. I hope that soon everyone will think freely and act virtuously. Therefore, I ask you to show patience, faith in democracy and the rule of law, in what you defended with your vote. Because on May 14, Democracy won.
Himara won. And I am grateful to those who showed bravery, but I also understand those who succumbed to pressure. But I promise you that for me there are no winners and losers.
All the citizens of Himara and I as the mayor, the first among equals, will march united to become even stronger, protecting Democracy and Human Rights.
Personally, I take strength from your strength and endure, as a citizen who has learned to defend his ideas of freedom, democracy and in practice to protect and care for every person who suffers or is threatened.
I am sure that soon the international community will protect the principles and values of democracy and the rule of law. Because today, above all, a mayor elected in this part of Europe, a citizen who is a member of the minority, was prevented from taking office.
Because today the intention of the opponents of the people, democracy and the rule of law was confirmed. And from this corner of Europe, I address the democratically elected leadership of Albania, the European Union and all Nations that serve democracy, human rights and the rule of law, such as the United States of America. I appeal to all relevant members of all international organizations who, according to their competence, protect and preserve human rights, justice and the rule of law, asking them to protect neither Fredi Beleri nor the members of the Greek ethnic minority in the Municipality of Himara, nor the majority of citizens who elected me, not democracy in Albania or the path of Albania’s membership in the European Union, but, to protect themselves, to protect what they represent, to protect their history and first of all their future.”
/abcnews.al
