Greek MEP Eva Kaili, the last suspect still imprisoned in the alleged “Qatargate” corruption case, was released from prison in Belgium on Friday after four months of preventive detention to be placed under house arrest under an electronic bracelet.
“My daughter is waiting for me, I am very happy to find her,” said the 44-year-old elected socialist to journalists who were waiting for her on her arrival in the morning at her Brussels home.
“The fight continues, with the determination of my lawyers. We will talk soon, thank you,” added the ousted vice-president of the European Parliament, who spoke in Greek and English in the back of a car which had earlier left Haren prison, northeast of the Belgian capital, where she was being held.
The Belgian investigating judge Michel Claise, who is investigating this case of alleged corruption for the benefit of Qatar and Morocco which has shaken the European Parliament, decided on Wednesday to release him from prison and house arrest under an electronic bracelet.
Belgian justice has taken similar decisions in recent days for two other suspects, Belgian MEP Marc Tarabella and former Italian MEP Antonio Panzeri.
Ms. Kaili is suspected of having interceded in favor of foreign powers, including Qatar, in the decisions of the European Parliament for several years, in return for payments of money. She claims her innocence. She was stripped of her duties as Vice-President of the European Parliament in mid-December.
A fourth suspect, Italian MEP Andrea Cozzolino, was arrested and then placed under house arrest on February 11 in Italy.
He challenges before the Italian courts his surrender to Belgium under a European arrest warrant. A hearing before the Naples Court of Appeal on his extradition to Belgium has been adjourned to May 2.
Finally, the parliamentary assistant Francesco Giorgi, companion of Ms. Kaili and close to Mr. Panzeri, had been placed under an electronic bracelet at the end of February after more than two months of detention in Belgium.
He was part, like his partner and Mr. Panzeri, of the first wave of arrested on December 9 in Brussels when the investigators had got their hands on 1.5 million euros in cash distributed in bags or suitcases.
Mrs Kaili had not benefited from her parliamentary immunity because the offense had been found in flagrante delicto, bags of tickets being discovered in her apartment.
Qatar and Morocco have strongly denied being the source of any corruption.
14/04/2023 19:21:26 – Bruxelles (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
