The Greek Minister of the Interior meets Fredi Beleri in the premises of the Durrës prison

 Fredi Beleri in the Court of Tirana

 The Greek Minister of Interior, Ioannis Ikonomou, met on Friday with the elected but yet-to-be sworn-in Mayor of Himara, Fredi Beleri, Euronews reports.

The Greek Minister, who visited Tirana yesterday as part of the Ministerial meeting of EU and Western Balkan Interior Ministers, visited Beleri in the confines of Durres prison.

The official visit from the high-ranking Greek official comes just a day after the Serious Crimes Court, in a pre-trial session against Beleri, ordered his detention in prison and initiated the legal process against him.

Regarding the visit, it is reported that there will be no public statement from the Greek Interior Minister.

Beleri has been held in custody since May 12 of this year after being arrested for vote-buying ahead of the local elections on May 14.

The prosecution accuses the election winner in Himara of giving 40,000 new lekë to 8 citizens to vote in his favor during the local elections.

His detention in prison has sparked a clash with the official Athens, which accuses the Albanian government of politically imprisoning Fredi Beleri to prevent him from being sworn in as mayor.