European Parliament Vice-President Eva Kaili has been arrested and charged with membership of a criminal organization, corruption and money laundering as part of the investigation into alleged bribes from Qatar to people who could influence decision-making in the European Parliament, judicial sources told the Belgian newspaper ‘L’Echo’ on Sunday.
Vice-President Kaili — stripped yesterday of her powers of office, but not of her title — is, according to the sources, one of four unidentified persons who, according to the official communiqué sent by the Belgian Federal Prosecutor’s Office, have been brought before the courts on suspicion of «membership of a criminal organization, money laundering and corruption». Two other persons who were arrested on Friday have been released.
The office also confirms the search of the home of a second MEP last Saturday night, in connection with a scheme whereby «third parties with political and/or strategic positions within the European Parliament received large sums of money or were offered substantial gifts to influence the decisions of the European Parliament».
Kaili had been under interrogation since Friday in police custody. At the end of the 48 hours stipulated by Belgian law, the Prosecutor’s Office has finally issued an arrest warrant against the vice-president, as well as against her partner and parliamentary adviser in the European Parliament in the field of Human Rights Francesco Giorgi and the former deputy Antonio Panzeri, as well as a Brussels intermediary whose identity has not transcended and has been identified only as «F», according to judicial sources to ‘Le Soir’.
Kaili’s father, intercepted on Saturday with a suitcase full of cash as he was leaving a hotel in Brussels, was released. Finally, Luca Visentini, secretary general of the International Trade Union Confederation, has been conditionally released, according to the same sources.
SEARCH AT THE HOME OF A SECOND MEP The Prosecutor’s Office does not mention the name of the second MEP whose home was searched «at around 20.00 on Saturday», but sources of the investigation have indicated to ‘Le Soir’ that it would be the Belgian socialist deputy Marc Tarabella, who «has not been deprived of liberty», according to the media. The MEP’s office has not commented on the matter.
Tarabella, 59, 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 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 being held now.
«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.
