Belgian police on Saturday night searched the home of Socialist MEP Marc Tarabella as part of the investigation into alleged Qatari bribes to people who could influence decision-making in the European Parliament, according to sources in the Belgian media ‘Le Soir’.
After the search, investigators have seized computer equipment, according to these sources, who point out that Tarabella, the second active MEP cited by name in the middle of this plot, «is not deprived of liberty».
Neither the Federal Prosecutor’s Office nor Tarabella’s office has commented on the matter.
The 59-year-old MEP, a member of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group in the Parliament, serves as vice-chairman of the delegation for relations with the Arabian Peninsula in the European Parliament and as a substitute in the delegation for relations with China, according to his profile on the institutional website of the European Parliament.
It is worth noting that Tarabella, in an appearance before the European Parliament on November 21, regretted the «unilaterally negative» discourse against the Qatari authorities in the field of labor rights after the deaths of numerous workers during the construction of the stadiums for the World Cup now being held.
«Much remains to be done, but it is a country that has embarked on the path of reform. And the organization of the World Cup, beyond all the events it organized, was probably the trigger that accelerated these reforms,» according to its European Parliament page.
The European Parliament had already announced on Saturday the suspension of the Greek Socialist Eva Kaili of all her competences and powers as vice-president of the European Parliament, but not of the post itself, in connection with this plot. Belgian police on Friday searched the home of Kaili, who was also questioned.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office also reported the arrest of four people and up to 16 searches carried out in several districts of Brussels as part of an investigation into an «alleged criminal organization of corruption and money laundering» that for months sought on behalf of a Gulf country to influence the «economic and political» decisions of the European Parliament.
