Former European Parliament Vice-President Eva Kaili, who is under investigation in the corruption scandal, will no longer be under electronic bracelet surveillance and can go free, but with surveillance, it was announced on Thursday.
The news is brought forward by the agency France-Presse, which quotes Eric Van Duyse, a spokesman for the judicial body responsible for ‘Qatargate’.
Former Greek MP Eva Kaili was released from prison in mid-April on the condition that she remain under house arrest with an electronic bracelet that allows her to track her location.
With this decision, the former Vice-President of the European Parliament is free, but under judicial supervision while the investigation is ongoing.
At the beginning of May, Belgian MEP Marc Tarabella and Italian parliamentary assistant Francesco Giorgi, who are also under investigation in the same trial, were released, but under supervision.
The case arose in December 2022, when Belgian detectives seized approximately 1.5 million euros in suitcases and bags during house searches in Brussels, at Kaili and Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri.
Judge Claise suspects the existence of cash payments in exchange for political decisions or positions favorable to the interests of Qatar and Morocco in the European Parliament, which Doha and Rabat deny.
Panzeri has admitted that those under investigation orchestrated the fraud and his former parliamentary adviser Francesco Giorgi is suspected of having played an important role in this process.
Former MEP Panzeri – a figure in the Italian trade union world and leader of NGOs in Brussels since 2019 – later implicated Marc Tarabella, who denies having committed any illegality or irregularity, as has Kaili.
A seventh suspect, Italian MEP Andrea Cozzolino, is the subject of a European arrest warrant issued by Judge Claise, but has already challenged his obligation to appear before the Belgian courts.
Source: DN
