Agencies- Former Article One MEP (European S&D Group) Antonio Panzeri has repented and signed an agreement with the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office providing for one year of effective imprisonment. This is what we learn in Brussels. In the late afternoon the news had arrived that the request for release had been, for the moment, withdrawn, then the confirmation arrived from Echo, Corriere.it and Fattoquotidiano.it: Pier Antonio Panzeri, accused of being in charge of the corruptive mechanism called Qatargate, has chosen to collaborate with the investigators and has already made the first admissions. In particular, he would have admitted to having passed 120 thousand euros to the Belgian deputy of Italian origin Marc Tarabella and would also have talked about payments to the MEP pdAndrea Cozzolino, although without specifying the amount paid.
The court hearing
While the plenary of the European Parliament is called today, 17 January, to comment on the immunities in the Qatargate case, the hearing on the pre-trial detention of Antonio Panzeri was held at the Brussels court. The latter chose to appear before the judges in the boardroom. The lawyer defending the former MEP, Laurent Kennes, recalled that ‘for corruption cases’ the maximum penalty ‘is four years’. Instead, when we talk about criminal association, the suspects ‘risk more, but also the violation of professional secrecy provides for a maximum penalty of three years’. On the sidelines of the hearing, the lawyer also complained about the excessive leaks that took place about the investigation.
The lawyer’s comment
“In 25 years I have rarely seen news leaks like I have seen on this dossier. This is why I decided not to make comments, because we believe it pollutes the investigation,” he explained. Outside the Palais de Justice in the Belgian capital, Kennes pointed the finger at the Republic and Le Soir: “Reading them we discovered things we didn’t know, it’s something quite extraordinary. The danger is not only that the investigation will be polluted, but that the leaks will also have an effect on the two persons for whom the waiver of immunity has been requested, who have not yet been questioned and will be questioned later.’ The reference is to MEPs Andrea Cozzolino and Marc Tarabella.
The collaboration
The decision to confirm the pre-trial detention that came from Brussels starts first of all from the fact that Panzeri, ‘for personal reasons’ decided to ‘withdraw the appeal’, as the Ansa agency reports. We will then talk about it again in February. Panzeri is responsible for criminal organization, corruption and money laundering to influence EU decisions on Qatar and Morocco. And precisely with regard to these dossiers already on December 10, the day after the arrest, he would have agreed to make some admissions about Tarabella and Cozzolino. The cooperation agreement signed by Panzeri, specifies Ansa, provides for ‘the imprisonment, a fine and confiscation of all assets acquired so far, currently estimated at one million euros’.
The Panzeri Family
Meanwhile, Silvia Panzeri, the daughter of the former MEP in a cell in Brussels as part of the Qatargate, remains under house arrest. The request made by the defenders Angelo De Riso and Nicola Colli to release their assistant or to grant them the obligation to sign, has in fact been rejected by the Court of Appeal of Brescia. His father Antonio entered under the lens of justice for the central role he is suspected of having played in the alleged corrupt network set up at the EU institutions of Qatar and Morocco.
Silvia is in turn investigated for competition in association with crime, corruption and money laundering. The judges of the Court of Appeal have ruled that the house arrest measure ordered by their colleagues in execution of the European arrest warrant is correct. We are now awaiting the decision, scheduled in the near future, on the delivery requested by Belgium. The women’s lawyers argued that the 200 thousand euros ‘freezed’ at the request of the Belgian judiciary on her current account would be nothing more than ‘compensates, the result of her professional activity’. Silvia Panzeri practices the profession of lawyer, and the ‘need’ to return to work had also been the basis of the request rejected by the Court of Appeal bresciana. De Riso and Colli challenged the seizure ordered by the investigating judge of Bergamo following the application made by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in execution of a European investigation order. They also believe, according to Ansa, that there are ‘victs’ in the measure: they will discuss it, but without going into the substance of the matter, before the Bergamo Review Court.
