The Greek MEP Eva Kailione of the vice presidents of the European Parliamentwas indicted and imprisoned on Sunday in Belgium in the framework of an investigation into corruption linked to Qatar within this institution.
A judicial source told AFP that a judge sent to jail Search and three other people, two days following his arrest for an investigation around the country organizer of the World Cup-2022.
The 44-year-old legislator and former television presenter, might not benefit from her parliamentary immunity since the offense attributed to her was found to be “in flagrante delicto” on Friday, according to this same source, who requested anonymity.
This source confirmed the press reports, according to which Search she was carrying “bags of tickets” on Friday night when Belgian police detained her.
The address in Brussels of Search was searched on Friday night. And that of another socialist MEP, the Belgian Marc Tarabella, was on Saturday night, according to this judicial source.
To assist the federal police in this second search, the president of the Eurochamber, Roberta Metsola, returned from Malta in the evening, one of her spokespersons reported. The presence of the president is necessary in this type of action once morest an MEP elected in Belgium, as “established by the Belgian Constitution.”
On Sunday, the federal prosecutor’s office did not give any names when announcing the preventive detention of these four people, accused of “belonging to a criminal organization, money laundering and corruption.”
Two other people, among the six arrested in the last 48 hours, have been released.
Among the six suspects arrested on Friday were also former Italian MP Pier-Antonio Panzeri and the general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Luca Visentini, also Italian.
According to the Belgian press, the father of Search He was located with a large amount of cash in a suitcase.
resignation calls
In this case “the payment of large sums of money or significant gifts to third parties with a political and/or strategic position that allow, within the European Parliamentinfluence decisions” of this institution, the prosecutor’s office recalled on Sunday.
The issue has exploded in the middle of the World Cup in Qatarwhich is striving to refute accusations of failing to respect the human rights of the thousands of migrants who worked on the construction of the stadiums.
Search traveled at the beginning of November to Qatarwhere he congratulated himself, together with the Qatari Minister of Labour, on the emirate’s reforms in this sector.
“Catar is a leader in the field of labor rights,” said the MEP on November 22 in the Eurochamber’s rostrum, generating discontent in the left-wing benches.
On Saturday night, the president of the institution already decided a first sanction once morest Search and stripped it of the functions that it had delegated, including representing it in the Middle East region.
Metsola has also called a meeting of the presidents of the groups on Monday to address the Belgian judicial investigation, two sources in Parliament told AFP on Sunday.
The ecologist and social democrat MEPs announced that they will oppose starting negotiations for a liberalization of visas for Qataris in the European Union (UE).
Left-wing MEPs, including environmentalist Philippe Lamberts on behalf of the Green group in the European Parliament, called for the resignation of Kaili, excluded on Friday from the Greek socialist party (Pasok-Kinal). (With information from AFP)
