On Friday, the Belgian public prosecutor’s office lifted the carpet of the European Parliament and found so much cash, presumably from Qatar’s coffers, that it shook the institution. Six people were arrested, including Greek Eva Kailione of the Deputy Speakers of the House.
Also present were several parliamentary assistants, parliamentary adviser Francesco Giorgi (Kaili’s sentimental companion), his father, former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri and lobbyist Niccolò Figà-Talamanca, who runs an NGO that would also be a cover.
The agents sent by the Belgian Justice sealed off various offices of the Eurochamber and on Saturday they also entered the home of Belgian MEP Marc Tarabella, of Italian origins. This Sunday the bomb fell. The Central Office for the Repression of Corruption, a Belgian judicial body, He accuses them of belonging to a criminal gang, corruption and money laundering.
Two people were released on Sunday (including Kaili’s father) with conditions, but four were sent to unconditional prison, including the vice-president of the European Parliament.
bags with banknotes
Deputies enjoy parliamentary immunity. This surprised the arrest, which lasted all weekend, and especially the unconditional sending of Kaili to prison. The only way to justify this action by the Belgian authorities it would be to have caught her in flagrante delicto.
the business magazine Waste On Saturday she said her father had been arrested when he absconded with hundreds of thousands of euros in cash in several bags. When the police went to arrest Kaili they also found bags of money on him.
The arrests also took place in Italy, where the wife and daughter of Panzeri, the former MEP who had founded an NGO in Brussels that was supposed to fight the impunity of the corrupt, human rights violations and other crimes were arrested ( ‘Fight Impunity’).
In Panzeri 600,000 euros in cash were discovered in his home. His wife and daughter are being held in the Italian city of Brescia.
The European Parliament has reacted strongly to the unprecedented arrests in the institution. The Social Democratic group expelled Kaili and Tarabella from its ranks and the president of the institution, Maltese Roberta Metsola, announced that she had suspended all powers of Kaili as vice president.
The leader of the Social Democratic group in the European Parliament, the Spaniard Iratxe Gaspar, he called for Kaili’s “removal” on Twitter.
Qatari money
Qatar appears behind the black money and the arrests. The Arab Emirate allegedly paid MEPs to defend their interests in the European Parliament, an illegal practice.
In recent months, Qatar has tried to influence the resolutions of the European Parliament so that they will not indicate human rights violations or the abuses against migrant workers who built the football World Cup facilities.
Two sources in the European Parliament said so this Sunday clarion that the arrests have caused an earthquake in the institution and that it would not be unusual to see more detainees in the coming days.
The European Parliament is the magic cricket of human rights, the one that points out European (Poland, Hungary) or non-European countries for their illiberal tendencies and their violations of human rights, the European institution that presses most to approve sanctions against authoritarian regimes . Cases like this damage your moral authority.
Parliamentary sources also explain that more than a conspiracy centered on a political formation (Kaili and Tarabella are social democrats) the scandal can be explained more as a mafia and almost family conspiracy.
It features Kaili, her father, her romantic partner, one of her former bosses and her assistants. In addition to Kaili and Tarabella, other MEPs and a European commissioner (Margaritis Schinas from Greece) have pointed out in recent months as defenders of the policies of the authoritarian regime of Qatar, have traveled to Qatar expenses paid and they defended the Arab emirate before the European institutions.
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Source: Clarin
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.