The president of the European Parliament launched an urgent procedure on Monday to lift the immunity of two members of the assembly, at the request of the Belgian judicial authorities, within the framework of the investigation into the corruption scandal known as Catargate, the institution announced. .
In a statement, the European Parliament indicates that the president, Roberta Metsola, will communicate the content of the requests to lift parliamentary immunity as soon as possible, the first opportunity being the opening of the first plenary session of the year, on January 16. , the date on which the applications will be forwarded to the Legal Affairs Committee, which will take a decision.
The European Parliament (EP) therefore does not reveal in the statement released the identity of the two MEPs in question, but several European sources, cited by the EFE and AFP agencies, state that they are the Belgian Marc Tarabella and the Italian Andrea Cozzolino. whose names had already been linked to the alleged corruption plot and both belonged to the European Socialists (S&D) bench, which had already decided to suspend them.
This procedure begins in the framework of the Belgian Justice investigation into alleged offers by Qatar and Morocco to MEPs and assistants to EP groups to influence decisions in Brussels, a scandal known as Catargate.
“From the beginning, the European Parliament has done everything possible to help ongoing investigations and we will continue to ensure that there is no impunity. Those responsible will find this Parliament on the side of the law. Corruption cannot win and we will.” . do everything to fight”, commented the president Roberta Metsola, quoted in the communiqué of the assembly.
On December 9, Belgian police arrested several suspects on charges of criminal organization, corruption and money laundering, including former Vice President of the European Parliament Eva Kaili, who has since been ousted from her post and removed from the Socialists and Democrats group. (S&D), and now a non-attached MEP.
Kaili’s partner, Francesco Giorgi -a former assistant to Cozzolino-, and former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, were also arrested in an operation that resulted in the seizure of suitcases of money for a total of 1.5 million euros.
Source: TSF
