MEP Eva Kaili is authorized to travel to Strasbourg for Parliament sessions

BRUSSELS, June 12 (DPA/EP) –

The Belgian Prosecutor’s Office has indicated that the socialist MEP Eva Kaili has permission to leave Belgium and travel to the French city of Strasbourg, after having been released under surveillance with an electronic bracelet in the framework of her involvement in the Qatar bribery scheme and Morocco to gain influence in the institutions of the European Union.

A spokesperson for the Belgian Public Ministry has explained to the dpa news agency that this permit is limited to attendance at the plenary sessions of the Strasbourg Parliament, which are held once a month, the next being this Monday.

Kaili’s legal team has stated that “he cannot go anywhere else in France for any other purpose without the permission of the investigating judge,” according to statements to ‘Politico’.

Kaili, as well as Belgian Socialist MEP Marc Tarabella, who will also be released from preventive detention with the same measure, are charged with crimes of corruption, money laundering and participation in a criminal organization. Kaili retains her seat as an MEP but was dismissed as vice president of the European Parliament after her arrest.

The Belgian Police seized 1.5 million euros in cash during searches last December of the homes of Kaili and the former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, at the center of the plot.

The other defendants are Panzeri, who has reached an agreement with the Prosecutor’s Office to obtain a sentence reduction in exchange for pointing out others involved and giving details of the plot; the parliamentary assistant Francesco Giorgi, Kaili’s partner and on probation since the end of February; the lobbyist Niccolo Figa-Talamanca and the general secretary of the European Trade Union Conference, Luca Visentini.