Greek Vice-President of the European Parliament, Eva Kaili, was charged with “corruption” on Sunday in Brussels, and imprisoned, as part of a Belgian judge’s investigation into large payments allegedly made by Qatar for influence decisions within this great institution of the European Union (EU).
A judicial source told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that Mr.me Kaili and three other people had been imprisoned by a Brussels judge, two days after their arrest in an investigation targeting the actions of the host country of the Soccer World Cup.
Mme Kaili could not benefit from his parliamentary immunity, because the offense of which he is accused was found “in flagrante delicto”, explained the same judicial source. This source confirmed press reports that “bags of tickets” were discovered in the apartment of the elected Greek socialist.
This home in the Belgian capital was searched on Friday evening. As well as that of another socialist MEP, the Belgian Marc Tarabella, on Saturday evening, added the judicial source. The latter was not arrested.
To assist the federal police in this second search, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, returned from Malta to Brussels in the evening, said one of her spokespersons. The presence of the president is necessary for such an act of investigation targeting a MEP elected in Belgium “as required by the Belgian Constitution”, it was explained.
“Intolerable”
This affair is “shameful and intolerable” and it damages in a “very serious way” the reputation of the Parliament, declared Sunday the European Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni.
According to the Belgian press, the former Italian MEP Pier-Antonio Panzeri, now head of the NGO Fight Impunity, was also imprisoned on Sunday.
It counted as Mme Kaili among the six people arrested Friday in Brussels, after at least sixteen searches.
Two of these suspects were released and the four others placed in pre-trial detention after being charged with “belonging to a criminal organization, money laundering and corruption”.
M’s own fatherme Kaili himself was worried in the investigation, caught carrying a large sum of cash “in a suitcase”, according to the Belgian newspaper The Echo.
In this case “is suspected the payment of large sums of money or the offer of significant gifts to third parties having a political and / or strategic position allowing, within the European Parliament, to influence the decisions” of this institution , recalled the prosecution on Sunday.
“Historical Transformation”
The affair broke out in the middle of the Soccer World Cup, when the host country had to make efforts to defend its decried reputation for respecting human rights, especially those of workers.
It also comes on the eve of a plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, where the relationship between the EU and Qatar should inevitably resurface in the debates.
Eva Kaili, 44-year-old former TV presenter, elected in January 2022 to one of the vice-presidencies of the European Parliament, went to Qatar in early November, where she welcomed the reforms of the the emirate in this sector.
The EU ambassador to Doha, Cristian Tudor, then provided publicity on Twitter for this meeting, which was deemed positive.
The organization of the World Cup by Qatar bears witness to the “historic transformation of a country whose reforms have inspired the Arab world”, also said Mr.me Kaili on November 22 at the podium of the European Parliament.
These remarks, which had then caused a stir in the ranks of the left and the liberals, came back to the minds of many MEPs this weekend after the announcement of his arrest.
“I am now afraid to understand…”, wrote the Frenchman Pierre Karleskind (Renew Europe) on Twitter on Saturday.
On Monday in Strasbourg, the President of Parliament, Roberta Metsola, called a meeting of group presidents to discuss the Belgian judicial investigation, two sources within the institution told AFP on Sunday.
Green and Social Democrat MEPs will also oppose the start of negotiations on visa liberalization for Qataris in the EU.
Saturday night, M.me Metsola has decided on a first sanction against Eva Kaili. The Greek vice-president was stripped of all the tasks delegated by the president, including that of representing her in the Middle East region.
Left-wing MEPs, including ecologist Philippe Lamberts on behalf of the Greens group, have demanded the resignation of Mme Kaili. She was expelled on Friday evening from the Greek Socialist Party (Pasok-Kinal), of which she was an already controversial figure.