European Parliament Vice-President Eva Kaili, who was caught red-handed with “bags of money” in her home in Brussels on Friday, will be taken into custody. The Greek Socialist MEP is among people being investigated by Belgian authorities on suspicion of corruption, in a scheme linked to Qatar. The investigation into Qatargate, as it is already called, continues, with the house of Belgian MEP Marc Tarabella being searched on Sunday.
Kaili, who has already been suspended as Vice-President of the European Parliament and expelled from Greece’s PASOK party, is accused of “corruption, money laundering and participation in a criminal organization”. This is reported by the Belgian newspaper Le Soir🇧🇷 The father of the 44-year-old MEP, Alexandros Kailis, was also caught outside a hotel in Brussels on Friday with a bag of banknotes. But he was released.
In addition to the MEP, a former Greek TV presenter, three other people, all Italians, were taken into custody: her partner, parliamentary adviser Francesco Giorgi; former Socialist MEP Pier-Antonio Panzeri (in office between 2004 and 2019); and Niccolò Figà-Talamanca, from the NGO No Peace Without Justice. Another Italian, the president of the International Trade Union Confederation, Luca Vincentini, was forcibly released.
In Italy, Panzeri’s wife and daughter, Maria Colleoni and Silvia Panzeri, were also arrested Friday on charges of complicity, with a Brescia court ordering them house arrest on Saturday. According to the Italian agency Ansa, both said in court that they knew nothing.
The Belgian police searched 16 homes in and around Brussels on Friday and seized 600,000 euros in cash. in addition to cell phones and computer equipment. Investigators have suspected for several months that a Gulf state could influence “the economic and political decisions of the European Parliament” – prosecutors never specified that it was Qatar, and this information was put forward by the Belgian media.
Influence would be bought “by paying large sums of money and offering gifts to influential figures in the European Parliament,” the statement said. The alleged bribes come as Qatar, which hosts the World Cup, is trying to improve its image after criticism over its respect for human rights and workers’ rights.
Kaili had recently been to Qatar, where he met with the labor minister after saying the Gulf country was a “pioneer in workers’ rights”.🇧🇷 This despite international criticism of the conditions in which the stadiums were built. 🇧🇷The State of Qatar categorically rejects any attempt to link him to allegations of wrongdoing. a Gulf country representative told Politico by email, who had inquired about this scandal.
new searches
The Belgian police carried out new searches this Sunday at the house of another MEP, the socialist Marc Tarabella, who is deputy leader of the parliamentary delegation “for relations with the Arabian Peninsula”. The President of the European Parliament, Maltese Roberta Metsola, previously flew from Malta to Brussels to take part in the search – Belgian law requires her presence if an MEP from the country is the target of the searches. Tarabella was not charged.
Metsola’s office said that both she and the European Parliament are “working actively and fully with judicial authorities to promote justice”. According to AFP, the president will have a meeting of the leaders of the political blocs in the European Parliament for next Monday to discuss the investigationat a time when MEPs plan to oppose the opening of the visa liberalization debate for visitors to Qatar, which was due to start this week.
Source: DN
