About to mark three months since her arrest for her role in the bribery scheme discovered in December in the European Parliament, the Greek MEP Eva Kaili has today seen her request to be released on parole denied, as has been done with others involved in the plot The Belgian Federal Prosecutor's Office has made public this morning the decision of the court of first instance in Brussels at the head of the dossier to extend the preventive detention for a period of two more months. In the case of the last person arrested in the case, Belgian Socialist MEP Marc Tarabella, suspected of receiving gifts in exchange for defending positions favorable to Qatar and Morocco, it has been decided to prolong his detention for another month.
The decision regarding Kaili, 44, has been taken by surprise by many observers of the case, especially after the court agreed a week ago to the demand of the defense of her partner, Francesco Giorgi, one of the leading figures. key to the scandal, to leave him on probation. That is, under house arrest with an electronic bracelet. The situation of the couple's daughter, barely two years old, was one of the arguments for both of them to ask to be released. Until now her mother has only been able to see her twice a month. This time, her prayers have not been heard either.
Both Kaili and Giorgi are accused of money laundering, corruption and criminal organization. Giorgi was among the first detainees in the case, on the fateful morning of December 9, and was the right hand of former deputy Antonio Panzeri, the alleged mastermind of the plot. At that time, Kaili enjoyed parliamentary immunity but after surprising his father with a suitcase full of banknotes, the police, assisted by the investigating judge Michel Claise, entered his house and proceeded to arrest him. Greek politics, according to his lawyer, has placed all the responsibility on his partner, Giorgi, a parliamentary assistant for the European Socialist group.
The decision announced today to keep her in custody, like Panzeri himself, suggests that her role in the plot could be greater than previously thought. According to what has emerged from Panzeri's story, who has decided to collaborate with the investigation and has signed an agreement with the Belgian justice system as 'repentant' to achieve a reduction in sentence, the bites would have helped finance the last Kaili's election campaign. The money from Qatar, according to the transcript of part of his statements published by Le Soir, would have also served to support the re-election of two more MEPs, the Italian socialist Andrea Cozzolino, whose immunity has already been lifted by the European Parliament so that he can be investigated. , and Lara Comi, also Italian but a member of the European People's Party.
The macro-raid in which Kaili, Giorgi, the lobbyist Nicola Figa-Talamanca and Panzeri, among others, were arrested, allowed the police to seize more than one and a half million euros in cash of allegedly corrupt origin, in addition to computers and mobile phones. At the beginning of February, the court agreed to release Figa-Talamanca, general secretary of the NGO No Peace Without Justice, on supervised release. For his part, the Belgian MEP Tarabella, who will be transferred to a prison closer to his family, residing in Liège, continues to proclaim his innocence. The investigation is still open. The European Parliament has decided to present itself as a civil party in the future trial against the defendants in Qatargate for the damage suffered by the scandal, the largest corruption plot ever detected in the European institutions.
