In the morning, the Belgian MEP had already been suspended from the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group in the European Parliament, the time of the judicial investigation into suspicions of corruption involving Qatar, in which his name is mentioned, had confirmed the president of this group, the Spaniard Iratxe Garcia Perez.
The former Walloon minister and mayor of Anthisnes has ensured since Sunday that he has nothing to hide and collaborates with justice. A search took place Saturday evening at his home. He denies any involvement in any corruption by the Qatari regime. “I have never received gifts from Qatar. I would have denounced them,” he said.
Marc Tarabella has been a member of the European Parliament since 2004, where he is notably, under this legislature, vice-president of the parliamentary delegation with the Arabian Peninsula (DARP).
Only politicians and collaborators of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament are currently cited in this case. A vice-president of the assembly, the Greek Eva Kaili, was placed under arrest warrant with three other people. The European Parliament removed Tuesday noon to the MEP her function of vice-president of the assembly, almost unanimously: 625 elected officials voted for, one once morest and two abstained.
Among the searches carried out, one also targeted a parliamentary assistant to Belgian MEP Marie Arena (PS), who decided on Monday to temporarily resign from her mandate as president of the “human rights” subcommittee. of the European Parliament, although she herself is not involved in the case. Marie Arena says she made this gesture “in the interest of the work” of this commission.
