A case of corruption in the European Parliament, broke out on Friday, bringing Belgian investigators to open an investigation concerning the attempt at an “alleged criminal organization” to influence the policies of the European Union (EU) for the benefit of “a Gulf State”, according to the official terminology of the federal prosecutor’s office.
In this file called “Qatargate”, six people were arrested in Brussels on Friday and four of them were imprisoned yesterday, Sunday, December 11, 2022.
It is Eva Kaili, elected Socialist Greek, vice-president of the European Parliament, her companion Francesco Giorgi, parliamentary assistant, Pier-Antonio Panzeri, former Italian social-democrat-democrat and president of the Brussels NGO Fight Impunity, and Niccolo Figa-Talamanca, leader of the NGO No Peace.
Luca Visentini, Italian secretary general of the International Union Confederation (ITUC), was indicted but released subject. A sixth person – a parliamentary assistant from the European People’s Party (PPE, Curator) – has been released.
The father of the vice-president of the European Parliament, apprehended in a Brussels hotel with a bag of cash, was quickly released.
The case is related to the seizure of hundreds of thousands of euros at Eva Kaili and Panzeri.
