Eva Kaili, a member of the European Parliament and one of the vice-presidents of the European Parliament, was arrested and charged with belonging to a criminal organization, corruption and money laundering in the context of an investigation into alleged bribery by the State of Qatar. Persons able to influence decision-making in the European Society. The information has been provided to the Belgian daily Leco through legal sources.
The MEP – who saw her powers removed from office, although not the position of vice president (one of the fourteen held by the chamber) – is one of four people charged with suspicion of “belonging to a criminal organisation, money laundering and corruption”, it said. In the official statement of the Belgian Attorney General, who did not specify any names. Two other people arrested on Friday have been released.
The prosecution also confirms the search at the home of the second MEP on Saturday night, also relating to this investigation into “third parties with political and/or strategic positions within the European Parliament who were given large sums of money or offered expensive gifts to influence Eurochamber’s decisions”.
Kylie has been questioned since friday when she was detained At the end of the 48 hours established by Belgian law, the Public Prosecutor’s Office issued arrest warrants for the MEP, her co-partner, Francesco Georgi, Parliamentary Adviser to the European Parliament on human rights matters, former MEP Pier Antonio Panzieri (who chaired the Assembly’s sub-committee on matters of human rights). human rights from 2017 to 2019) and to a broker in Brussels known only by the letter “F”, according to the newspaper. le braceletQuoted from Europa Press.
Panzeri’s wife, Maira Collione, and his daughter, Silvia Panzeri, were also arrested on Friday in Italy at the request of the Belgian justice, on suspicion of having knowledge of illegal activities. On Saturday, an Italian court confirmed the house arrest.
Meanwhile, Luca Visentini, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, has been released on parole, while Eva Cayley’s father, who was caught on Saturday with a bag full of money leaving a hotel in Brussels, has been released on parole.
Kylie, like Panziri before her, is part of the European Parliamentary Group of Socialists and Democrats.
second MEP
Prosecutors did not name the second MEP whose home was searched “around 8pm on Saturday” (9pm in mainland Portugal), but judicial sources told le bracelet It was the Belgian socialist Marc Tarabella who was not deprived of his freedom.
As PÚBLICO reported on Saturday, the offices of the Belgian deputies Maria Arena And the Mark Tarabella It was allegedly sealed by the police as part of the investigation. None of the MEPs commented on the situation. But the Belgian Socialist Party has already called out Tarabella, he says le braceletTo clarify the situation after searching his house.
According to the Italian daily newspaper Dominica, Francesco Georgi worked with Maria Arena, who is also a socialist and is the current chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights (she is also a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs). However, on the agenda of the European Parliament there is no record of meetings with lobbyists, but with NGOs concerned with the human rights situation and with the principality government.
Tarabella, according to you Site Officially, he is the deputy head of the European Parliament delegation for relations with the Arabian Peninsula. On November 21, he also participated in the debate in the Chamber on The reality of human rights in the context of the FIFA World Cup in Qatarwhere Eva Kayley vigorously defended the emirate’s government Attracted a lot of attention of the members of the European Parliament.
Trabella was more reserved in her intervention, but did not fail to praise the speech of the Vice-President of the European Parliament and the “progress on workers’ rights” in Qatar. Almost nine years ago, we voted on a resolution regarding the deplorable state of workers’ rights in Qatar. For nine years, there has been no solution for the simple reason — and the Commissioner made it clear in her well-measured speech — that progress has been made on workers’ rights,” he said.
“The situation is not ideal today in Qatar, far from it,” Tarabella explained, “there is still a lot of progress to be made, but it is the country itself that has committed itself to the path of reforms” and “the organization of the World Cup, in addition to all the events that may have been Its systems, are the impetus that accelerated these reforms.
The EP intervention, in contrast to Cayley’s intervention, which is rather positive, stresses that “one-sided negative rhetoric” can be “harmful to the development of rights in the future of Qatar” and on the impact that Qatari reforms may have “in all countries of the Arabian Peninsula” . .
