Eva Kaili, the former Greek vice president of the European Parliament, will remain in jail for at least a month. The Brussels council chamber decided this on Thursday, the federal prosecutor’s office reported.
READ ALSO Former Vice President of the European Parliament Eva Kaili appears before the Council Chamber
Kaili’s lawyers had asked to place her under electronic surveillance, but the court did not respond to that. The defense now has 24 hours to appeal the court’s decision. If she does, the indictment chamber must decide within 15 days on her further pre-trial detention.
Eva Kaili was arrested on Friday, December 9, after her father was arrested earlier that same day with a considerable sum of money, and her partner Francescio Giorgi was also deprived of his freedom.
The arrests were part of an investigation by the federal prosecutor into attempts by the Gulf state of Qatar to influence the economic and political decision-making of the European Parliament by paying large sums of money or giving substantial gifts to people with a political and/or strategic position within the European Parliament. to offer.
Morocco is also mentioned in the investigation, with possible corruption by its intelligence agency DGED and the Moroccan ambassador to Poland, Abderrahim Atmoun.
Kaili’s partner, Francesco Giorgi, was also arrested that day and, like Kaili, was placed under an arrest warrant. His pre-trial detention was already extended by a month by the council chamber last Wednesday. According to various media, both Kaili and Giorgi have already made partial confessions in the file. Eva Kaili’s lawyers, André Risopoulos and Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, reported on Thursday afternoon, after the session of the council chamber, that the former Greek vice-president of the European Parliament is actively cooperating with the investigation, but at the same time maintains that she was never bribed.
House Searches
As part of the investigation, sixteen house searches were carried out on 9 December in Ixelles, Schaerbeek, Kraainem, Vorst and Brussels, and six people were arrested. In addition to Eva Kaili, her father and her partner, these were the Italian former MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, the Brussels-Italian lobbyist Nicolo Figa-Talamanca, and trade unionist Luca Visentini.
Investigators of the federal judicial police seized 1.5 million euros during those house searches and arrests. 700,000 euros in cash was seized in Panzeri’s home, while the father of Eva Kaili, who was staying with his wife in Brussels, was arrested at his hotel with a suitcase full of banknotes worth about 600,000 euros.
Later that day, Eva Kaili could also be arrested and a search of her home followed. Kaili is said to have had around 150,000 euros in her possession. Panzeri, Giorgi, Kaili and Figa-Talamanca were placed under arrest, while Visentini and Kaili’s father were released. The Brussels council chamber decided last Wednesday, December 14, to place Figa-Talamanca under electronic surveillance, and to keep Panzeri and Giorgi in jail. For Eva Kaili, the handling of the file was postponed to Thursday, December 22.
According to Knack, Le Soir and La Republicca, Kaili would have admitted that she asked her father to hide the money that was at her house. In her statement before examining magistrate Claise, she allegedly said that she knew from the past about the activities of her husband, Francesco Giorgi, with Pier Antonio Panzeri, and that suitcases of cash passed through her flat.
Giorgi previously worked for Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri and is also active in his non-profit organization Fight Impunity. This non-profit organization would be regarded as the hub for bribery practices. Knack and Le Soir had previously reported that Giorgi had also made confessions, admitting that he was part of an organization used by Morocco and Qatar to intervene in European affairs. In his confessions, Giorgi allegedly indicated that his role in the ‘organization’ was to manage cash.
According to Le Soir, Knack and La Republicca, Pier Antonio Panzeri also partially confessed to the facts of corruption and interference in favor of Qatar and Morocco. In doing so, he would have referred to MEP Marc Tarabella as the beneficiary of “gifts” from Qatar.
This article is originally published on bruzz.be
