Former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, suspected of the European Parliament corruption scandal known as ‘Qatargate’, will be placed under house arrest with an electronic bracelet after agreeing to cooperate with Belgian justice, it was announced on Thursday .
Speaking to the France-Presse news agency (AFP), Laurent Kennes, Panzeri’s lawyer, said the Council Chamber, the detention monitoring body, has given the “green light” to the former Italian MP to leave prison in Brussels, where he has been. detained since December 9, 2022, to be transferred to house arrest, which will also require him to wear an electronic bracelet.
“It will take a few days,” the lawyer underlined.
Pier Antonio Panzeri, 67, president of the non-governmental organization (NGO) Fight Impunity, is seen as one of the central figures in ‘Qatargate’, a scandal that has shaken European institutions and involves alleged bribes by Qatar and Morocco to MEPs and assistants from European Parliament political groups to influence decisions in Brussels to the benefit of both countries.
Greek Socialist MEP Eva Kaili, sacked from her position as Vice-President of the European Parliament and removed from the Socialists & Democrats group after the scandal was revealed, was also arrested on December 9.
Kaili’s companion, Italian Francesco Giorgi, and another Italian citizen, Niccolo Figa-Talamanca, director of the NGO No Peace Without Justice, were also arrested on the same day.
During searches of the four suspects, who were later charged with “belonging to a criminal organization”, “money laundering” and “corruption”, several hundred thousand euros in small packages were seized.
Pier Antonio Panzeri, whose wife and daughter were also involved, agreed to cooperate with the courts on the fraud scheme’s modus operandi, the financial arrangements with third states, the financial structure created, the beneficiaries of these structures and information about the involvement of known or unknown persons in the process.
In exchange for cooperating with authorities, Panzeri received a negotiated prison sentence that included an electronic bracelet.
The former MEP admitted to being one of the leaders of a criminal organization “linked to Qatar and Morocco” and implicated another MEP, Belgian Marc Tarabella, who has also been arrested.
Eva Kaili and Marc Tarabella remain in pre-trial detention. Francesco Giorgi was placed under house arrest at the end of February with an electronic bracelet.
Source: DN
