The former vice president of the European Parliament (EP) Eva Kaili, suspected of having received bribes from Qatar, confessed on Tuesday that she knew of the existence of large amounts of money in her house, but did not admit to having been corrupted.
The Greek socialist MEP has been detained for more than a weekwith a hearing at the Brussels Court of First Instance scheduled for Thursday to decide whether the politician remains in pretrial detention.
The judicial authorities have already ordered that the other two defendants in the context of the scandal known as “Qatargate” -Eva Kaili’s partner, Francesco Giorgi, who has already recognized, in statements to the police, his participation in the corruption plot- and the former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri – be arrested.
Qatar Gate. Greek MEP’s boyfriend says Eva Kaili is innocent and the money was hers
According to the Tuesday edition of the newspaper Le Soir, which had access to the investigation, Eva Kaili admitted to investigators that asked his father to hide part of the thousands of euros who were at home, with a suitcase full of money taken to the Sofitel hotel, where the MEP’s mother was staying.
It was precisely the role of Kaili’s father that allowed the Belgian police (in charge of carrying out the investigation) to act, despite the immunity granted at the time to the EP vice-president, since it was considered that was committing a flagrante delicto????????
Francesco Giorgi, whom the court confirmed in pretrial detention on the 14th, confessed to the investigating judge his participation in an organization that allegedly received bribes from Qatar and Morocco for political and economic benefits in the European Union (EU).
The researchers considered the former Socialist MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri as ringleader of the schemenoting that it used the non-governmental organization (NGO) Fight Impunity to reach out to “honorary” MEPs and members, including former European Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs, Dimitris Avramopoulos of Greece, and former EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, the Italian socialist Federica Mogherini.
Eva Kaili voted for visa liberalization with Qatar in a committee she did not belong to
Panzeri’s wife and daughter were arrested in Italy for alleged involvement in the corruption case and the Italian justice authorized the extradition of the former to Belgium, where the authorities suspect that he had an active role in the plot.
The defense of Panzeri’s wife announced, however, that they will appeal the decision, the Italian press reported.
In addition, according to the newspaper Le Soir, both Giorgi and Panzeri mentioned, in their statements, the involvement of Belgian Socialist MEP Marc Tarabella, who has already been questioned by the police and his home searched, but who remains at large.
Source: Observadora
