The Chamber of the Council of Brussels (equivalent to a court of first instance) has decided this Wednesday to keep in preventive detention eva kailithe vice-president of the European Parliament in the center of the Qatargateas well as his partner, the Italian Francesco Giorgioas reported by the prosecution in a statement.
The hearing scheduled for this Wednesday in the Council Chamber to decide on the precautionary measures against Kaili It has been delayed until next December 22. The prosecution attributes this postponement to a request from the vice president herself.
However, the Belgian press assures that the reason for the suspension was a strike by prison officers, which prevented the MEP from being brought before the judge. In theory, in such situations it would have been up to the prosecution to go look for the defendant at the prisonbut due to a “misunderstanding” that has not happened, as reported by the newspaper Litter.
In the face of a dossier du Parquet Fédéral de suspicions de corruption, visant des personnes actives au sein du Parlement européen, la Police Judiciaire Fédérale a saisi près d’1.5 million d’euros lors de inquisitions menées en région bruxelloise. pic.twitter.com/2UfK2zNtnm
— Police Fédérale (@policefederale) December 14, 2022
The three other detainees Until now, they have appeared before the Council Chamber this Wednesday for Qatargate. In addition to the vice president’s partner, they are the former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri; and the lobbyist Nicolo Figa-Talamanca.
The Council Chamber has confirmed the preventive detention for Giorgi and Panzeri, while in the case of the lobbyist he has decreed house arrest with an electronic bracelet. His lawyers have avoided the numerous press gathered in the elephantine Palace of Justice in Brussels.
[De las reuniones de Eva Kaili en Qatar a la redada policial en Bruselas: así se fraguó el Qatargate]
All four have been accused of belonging to a criminal organization, corruption and money laundering. According to the preliminary investigation, the vice president of the European Parliament and the rest of the detainees would be the central pieces of a bribery scheme orchestrated by Qatar to whiten its deteriorated image and buy influence in the EU.
The Belgian federal police have posted a photograph of the cash seized during Qatargate raids: in total 1.5 million euros. In the image you can see a cabin suitcase full of bundles of 50-euro bills (with which Kaili’s father supposedly tried to flee), as well as two briefcases and a paper bag also full of bills.
The lawyer in Athens for the vice president of the European Parliament, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, has told the agency AFP that his client pleads “not guilty” and has diverted responsibility to her partner. Kaili “has no relation to the money found at her home, I didn’t know the existence of that money“, maintains his lawyer. “Only his partner” Francesco Giorgi can give “answers about the existence of that money,” he added.
