Eva Kaili, the former Vice-President of the European Parliament who was a suspect in the Qatargate corruption investigation, has been released from prison on an electronic bracelet following spending more than four months in preventive detention. Kaili is the last of the suspects to be granted the electronic surveillance release. Journalists were waiting for her upon her arrival at home in Brussels following leaving prison.
The investigation, led by the federal prosecutor’s office, focuses on attempts by Qatar to influence economic and political decision-making in the European Parliament. Several people are charged, including former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, MEP Marc Tarabella, Francesco Giorgi, and lobbyists Niccolo Figa-Talamanca and Luca Vinsentini.
Panzeri obtained the status of penitent and participated actively in the investigation, admitting to receiving money from Qatar to favor the Middle Eastern state in European Parliament decisions. He also accused Tarabella of receiving a sum of around €140,000 for his “help” in this criminal project. However, Tarabella has denied these accusations.
Panzeri and Tarabella have also been granted the electronic surveillance release while Kaili was granted the same release on Wednesday.
After Marc Tarabella and former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, it’s Eva Kaili’s turn to get out of prison. The ousted vice-president of the European Parliament, a suspect in the Qatargate corruption investigation, has been released on an electronic bracelet. She was able to leave Haren prison this Friday morning and returned to her home in Brussels.
Journalists were waiting for her when she arrived and Eva Kaili spoke briefly in Greek and English. “My daughter is waiting for me, I am very happy to find her,” she said. Before adding: “The fight continues, with the determination of my lawyers. We will talk soon, thank you”.
Arrested and imprisoned on December 9 as part of the investigation for corruption within the European Parliament, she will have spent a little more than four months in prison. The examining magistrate Michel Claise had decided on Wednesday to place her under an electronic bracelet. Eva Kaili was the last of the suspects in preventive detention. All the others had either been released or admitted to house arrest under electronic bracelets, by decision of the council chamber or the indictment chamber.
The investigation in this file is led by the federal prosecutor’s office. It targets attempts by Qatar to influence the economic and political decision-making of the European Parliament. This Middle Eastern state would have paid large sums of money or offered substantial gifts to people occupying a political or strategic position within the European hemicycle.
Several people are charged, including Pier Antonio Panzeri, former MEP and founder of the NGO Fight Impunity, Eva Kaili, the former vice-president of the European parliament, Francesco Giorgi, her companion and former parliamentary assistant. of Mr. Panzeri, as well as the lobbyist Niccolo Figa-Talamanca and Luca Vinsentini, former general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation. MEP Marc Tarabella is also charged, following being arrested on February 11, 2023, two months following the others.
Antonio Panzeri obtained the status of penitent on January 17, and thus undertook to collaborate actively in the investigation. He admitted having received money from Qatar in particular to favor this country in the decisions taken by the European Parliament. He, among other things, charged Marc Tarabella, claiming to have given him a sum of around 140,000 euros for his “help” in this criminal project. The MP has always disputed these accusations and claims to be involved in nothing in this affair.
Antonio Panzeri obtained the favor of preventive detention under electronic surveillance on Thursday. On Tuesday, Marc Tarabella also accessed this detention regime, before Eva Kaili on Wednesday.
Qatargate: Eva Kaili released under electronic bracelet
Below, images of Eva Kaili’s release from prison.
MEP Marc Tarabella: “It’s not a release, because I’m going to be in prison at home”
The release of Eva Kaili from prison has marked another chapter in the ongoing Qatargate corruption investigation. While she may have been released on an electronic bracelet, her fight continues with the determination of her lawyers. The investigation, which targets attempts by Qatar to influence the European Parliament, has charged several people, including former MEPs and lobbyists. With Panzeri obtaining penitent status and Tarabella disputing accusations, the case remains complex and unresolved. As the investigation continues, only time will tell what the final outcome will be.