“Qatargate”, the scandal shaking the European Parliament: bags full of euros in exchange for defending the regime

On Friday, the Belgian justice unleashed an earthquake in the European Parliament. The last three days were spent in Brussels between announcements of arrests, finds of bags with hundreds of thousands of euros in cash and voices wondering who was next.

Six people, including one of the vice-presidents of the European Parliament, have been arrested. Two, including his father, have been on probation since Sunday. Four were sent to prison unconditionally. Will there be more arrests? Who will be the next?

clarion summarizes the events that have occurred since Friday through reports from the Belgian press and various parliamentary sources.

At dawn on Friday, special units of the Belgian federal police guard incognito the house of Eva Kaili, a Greek social democrat, former TV star and vice-president of the European Parliament. Parliamentary immunity protects your domicile in Rue Wiertz, a few meters from his office.

intuition

The first to leave the house is her sentimental companion and father of her child, the Italian Francesco Giorgi. He is a parliamentary adviser and also works for the NGO Fight Impunity, officially an NGO dedicated to the fight against impunity of human rights violators.

Giorgi is not only Kaili’s partner. According to Belgian justice, he is one of the key pieces of the corrupt conspiracy that allegedly accepted payments from the Qatari regime in exchange for benefits for its interests in the European Parliament. The investigation had been ongoing since July.

The case, led by the investigating judge Michel Claise, an expert in financial crimes, is very sensitive due to its political content influence the European Parliament and the Qatari regime. From the beginning it was in the hands of the Central Office for the Suppression of Corruption, a judicial body specialized in financial crimes.