The European Parliament (EP) on Thursday approved the waiver of the immunity of MEPs Andrea Cozzolino and Marc Tarabella, following a request from the Belgian authorities regarding the investigation into the “Qatargate” corruption scandal.
On Thursday, MEPs agreed to approve a proposal from the Committee on Legal Affairs to lift the immunity of these two MEPs.
This is the penultimate step in the procedure that started in January. This will be followed by a formal communication to Italy’s Cozzolino and Belgium’s Tarabella and to the Belgian authorities investigating the corruption scandal that began with the fall of EP Vice-President Eva Kaili.
The two MEPs are being investigated in the process sparked by alleged attempts by Qatar, and reportedly also by Morocco, to influence decisions by the European institutions in their favor by paying bribes to MEPs and officials of the European Parliament.
As part of this investigation, four defendants have already been detained since late December and charged with membership of a criminal organization, corruption and money laundering, including European Parliament Vice-President Eva Kaili, who was dismissed from his posts in the institution after his arrest.
In addition to Kaili, involved in the trial and arrested in Belgium, his adviser and partner Francesco Giorgi, the leader of the non-governmental organization (NGO) “No peace without justice” are Niccolo Figa-Talamanca and former MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri.
The investigation of the Belgian authorities allowed the seizure of suitcases with money totaling 1.5 million euros and four people were charged with the crimes of corruption, money laundering and participation in a criminal organization.
Source: DN
