After the arrest of six people, Friday, four of them, including the vice-president of the Parliament Eva Kaili, were imprisoned on Sunday.
by Philippe Jacqué ( Brussels, European office), Virginie Malingre (Brussels, European Bureau) and Jean-Pierre Stroobants (Brussels, European office)
Belgian investigators and investigating judge Michel Claise were disabled, during the weekend, to advance the “Qatargate” file or, according to the more official terminology of the federal prosecutor’s office, the attempt at a ” Alleged criminal organization “to influence the policies of the European Union (EU) for the benefit of” a Gulf State “.
Six people were arrested in Brussels on Friday, December 9. Four of them were imprisoned on Sunday. The judicial authorities have not delivered their name, but it is Eva Kaili, elected Greek socialist, vice-president of the European Parliament, of Francesco Giorgi, a parliamentary assistant who is his companion, by Pier-Antonio Panzeri, ex-Ele-deputy Social-Democrat Italian and president of the Brussels NGO Fight Impunity, and, finally, according to the Italian press agency Ansa, Niccolo Figa-Talamanca, leader of the NGO No Peace Without Justice, installed at the same Address that Fight Impunity.
Luca Visentini, Italian secretary general of the International Union Confederation (ITUC), was indicted but released under condition. A sixth person – A parliamentary assistant from the European People’s Party (PPE, Curator) – was released. The father of M Me kaili, apprehended in a Brussels hotel with a bag of cash, was quickly released. “He only played the conveyor,” said a source.
Hundreds of thousands of euros would have been seized by investigators at M Me Kaili and Mr. Panzeri, which various interlocutors in the world confirm that it was “at the heart” of the system of system corruption implemented. Italian police interviewed his wife and daughter during the weekend.
The first elements of the investigation indicated that the offices of several assistants, including those of Belgian elected officials Marie Arena, close to Mr. Panzeri, and Marc Tarabella had been searched. In reality, the offices of these two elected officials and that of a third deputy would also have been placed under sealed.
“How far will this affair go?”
The police searched, Saturday, Mr. Tarabella’s home in Anthisnes, in the province of Liège. Investigators won the mobile phone and the elected official, MEP since 2009. “I have nothing to hide, I will answer all the questions, that goes without saying,” he said. The “vigilance commission” of the Belgian Socialist Party, supposed to ensure the integrity of the agents, will hear it soon.
Roberta Metsola, the president of the European Parliament, attended, as required by Belgian law, to the police operation carried out on Saturday. Returned to Malta hurriedly, she did not hide her concern. The elected conservative, who registered the fight against corruption at the heart of her political identity, quickly decided to suspend Eva Kaili from her missions: the Greek socialist was notably responsible for representing it in the Middle East.
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