Belgian justice on Thursday ordered the continued detention of Greek MEP Eva Kaili, charged this month in a corruption investigation involving Qatar which has already cost her her post as vice-president of the European Parliament.
The Brussels council chamber, before which the elected socialist appeared 11 days after the start of her incarceration, refused the request for placement under an electronic bracelet and “extended the preventive detention by one month”, announced the federal prosecutor’s office in a press release.
The lawyers have 24 hours to appeal the decision, the prosecution said.
Eva Kaili denies any corruption, reaffirmed her advice on Thursday morning. They hoped to obtain a release accompanied by a placement under electronic bracelet, arguing in particular his “active participation” in the investigation and the absence of risk of flight.
In this scandal which caused a shock wave in the European Parliament and tensions between Qatar and the EU, Eva Kaili is one of a quartet of suspects imprisoned after an indictment for “belonging to a criminal organization”, “money laundering”. ‘money’ and ‘corruption’.
On December 14, it had already been decided to keep Francesco Giorgi, companion of the Socialist MEP, and former MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri in prison, who also appear as key figures in the file.
A fourth defendant, Niccolo Figa-Talamanca, leader of an NGO, had been granted placement under an electronic bracelet that day, but the measure was suspended because the federal prosecutor’s office appealed. A hearing has been set for December 27, according to his lawyer.
Former television news presenter, who became a controversial figure in the Greek Socialist Party (Pasok-Kinal) – which excluded her from the first revelations – Eva Kaili continues to deny having received money from Qatar to influence her political decisions. .
According to a Belgian judicial source, bags filled with banknotes worth 150,000 euros (about CA$217,000) were discovered in his apartment in Brussels.
But Ms. Kaili “did not know of the existence of this money”, said her Greek lawyer Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, according to whom Mr. Giorgi would have “betrayed the trust” of his companion.
In Greece, a joint bank account of the couple was seized by justice, as well as a plot of 7000 m2 on the island of Paros bought via this account, we learned Thursday from a judicial source.
An investigation was opened last week by the Athens Financial Prosecutor’s Office.
A million and a half in cash
In Belgium, the investigation led by financial judge Michel Claise gave rise to 20 searches between December 9 and 12, including in the premises of the European Parliament in Brussels.
Eva Kaili’s father was kept in custody for 48 hours in the Belgian capital, while Mr. Panzeri’s wife and daughter, targeted by a European arrest warrant, were arrested in Italy. They challenged before the Italian courts their return to Belgium.
In total, Belgian investigators got their hands on 1.5 million euros in cash (CA$2.17 million), according to the same judicial source.
In addition to the 150,000 euros discovered at Mrs. Kaili’s house, her father was surprised with a suitcase containing 750,000 euros in cash (1.08 million $CA).
Finally, 600,000 euros ($867,000) were seized from the home of Mr. Panzeri, a former socialist elected member of the European Parliament who founded the NGO Fight Impunity in Brussels in 2019, whose three years of activity are now scrutinized at magnifying glass.
Italian trade union leader Luca Visentini, who knows Mr Panzeri, admitted this week to receiving a cash donation of around 50,000 euros (C$72,230) from Fight Impunity, but said he was not related to any attempt at corruption or influence peddling for the benefit of Qatar.
Concerned in the investigation, Mr. Visentini, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (CSI, or ITUC in English), was released under judicial supervision on December 11 after two days in police custody.
On Wednesday, he was “suspended” from his duties by the governing body of the ITUC.
On the diplomatic level, the scandal undermines the relationship between the EU and Qatar, which has warned of a possible “negative impact” on gas supplies.
The emirate, which “firmly rejects” the accusations, protested against a vote taken on December 15 in the European Parliament which aims to suspend access “for representatives of Qatari interests” during the investigation.