The Belgian justice decided this Wednesday to place under house arrest with an electronic bracelet the former vice president of the European Parliament (EP), Eva Kaili, a key figure in the investigation of the corruption case known as Catargate.
“Eva Kaili will be released from prison. She will be under house arrest in Belgium and under electronic surveillance. The investigating judge has just made the decision,” Antoon Schotsaert, a magistrate at the Belgian Federal Public Ministry, told AFP.
Of the Qatargate corruption scandal, which involves several MEPs and the receipt of rewards for positions favorable to countries such as Qatar and Morocco, the former EP president was the only one who remained detained.
Eva Kaila, who has denied the accusations, is suspected of interceding for several years on behalf of foreign powers in the decisions of the European Parliament, in exchange for cash payments.
The 44-year-old former EP vice-president, mother of a two-year-old girl, was dismissed from her post in mid-December.
Eva Kaili did not benefit from parliamentary immunity because the crime was caught in flagrante delicto, and “bags of money” were discovered in her apartment.
On Tuesday, the Brussels court also decided that Belgian MEP Marc Tarabella, involved in the Catargate corruption scandal, will be released on probation with an electronic bracelet, the spokesman for the Federal Public Ministry said.
Tarabella will remain at the disposal of the investigators and the investigating judge if they need more information, said the office of the MEP, who recalled that the defendant always defended his innocence.
Tarabella was detained on February 10 after being stripped of his parliamentary immunity.
In connection with the same scheme, MEPs Francesco Georgi and Pier Antonio Panzeri, the alleged leader of the scheme, and Andrea Cozzolino were arrested.
Georgi was paroled with an electronic bracelet on February 23, while Panzeri acquired the same regime on the 6th of this month.
Panzeri, a former Italian MEP, agreed to help with the police investigation in exchange for benefits related to the sentence.
Andrea Cozzolino is under house arrest in Naples awaiting a court decision on his surrender to the Belgian authorities.
Qatar and Morocco have vehemently denied being a source of corruption.
Source: TSF
