Eva Kaili, former vice-president of the European Parliament, will be released from prison to go under house arrest with an electronic wristband. The Belgian judiciary has also decided to release the last suspect in prison in the Qatarargate investigation. The decision was made by investigating judge Michel Claise. The Belgian judiciary recently decided to wear electronic bracelets to Belgian Parliamentarian Marc Tarabella and former Italian Parliamentarian Antonio Panzeri, who are believed to be the masterminds of the corruption scandal, in order to shake the European Parliament.
Kaili is suspected of interfering in exchange for money for several years in Strasbourg’s decisions in favor of foreign powers, including Qatar. The 44-year-old mother, who has a two-year-old daughter, was dismissed from her post as deputy head of the department in mid-December. His lawyer, Sven Mary, said, “He has been pleading innocent for four and a half months. We have not completed the investigation yet.” Like Kaili, Marc Tarabella always maintained his innocence, while Panzeri accepted his responsibilities and agreed to cooperate with justice. The former Pd and Article Uno MP negotiated a limited prison sentence in exchange for a commitment to provide investigators everything he knew about the Qatar and Moroccan-linked corruption scheme he admitted to orchestrating. A fourth suspect, Italian MEP Andrea Cozzolino, was arrested and placed under house arrest in Italy on February 11 and is now contesting Belgium’s extradition request before the Italian courts.
Finally, the last defendant is Cozzolino’s parliamentary deputy, Francesco Giorgi, Panzeri’s close collaborator and Kaili’s partner. Like his partner and Mr Panzeri, he was part of the first wave of arrests in Brussels on 9 December, when investigators found around 1.5m euros in cash in bags and suitcases in their home. Although Kaili was vice-president of the EU parliament at the time, he did not enjoy legislative immunity as he was found in the act of committing a crime with “bags of money” found in his flat.
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
