The European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs unanimously approved this Tuesday the suspension of the parliamentary immunity of MEPs Andrea Cozzolino and Marc Tarabella, requested by the Belgian authorities in the investigation into their alleged involvement in the Catargate corruption scandal.
The vote took place after a closed-door debate on the respective requests to lift the immunities of the Italian Cozzolino and the Belgian Tarabella, who are part of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group.
This decision still needs the ratification of the plenary session of the European Parliament to enter into force. After the approval with 23 votes in favor of suspending their parliamentary protection, the two decisions will be included in the plenary session that the Eurochamber will hold this Wednesday and Thursday in Brussels.
With this procedure, the MEPs responded affirmatively to the request of the Belgian Justice to waive the immunities of these two MEPs who are being investigated in the open process for the alleged attempts by Qatar, and apparently also by Morocco, to influence the decisions of the European Union. institutions in their favour, by paying bribes to MEPs and officials of the European Parliament (EP).
Within the framework of this investigation, there are already four defendants who have been detained since the end of December accused of belonging to a criminal organization, corruption and money laundering, including the Vice President of the European Parliament Eva Kaili, who was dismissed from office. in the institution after his arrest.
Along with Kaili, involved in the process and detained in Belgium, are his adviser and partner Francesco Giorgi, the leader of the non-governmental organization (NGO) “No Peace Without Justice” Niccolo Figa-Talamanca and former MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri.
The investigation carried out by the Belgian authorities allowed the seizure of suitcases with money worth 1.5 million euros and four people were charged with the crimes of corruption, money laundering and participation in a criminal organization.
Source: TSF
