Three months after his arrest as part of the investigation into “Qatargate” in the European Parliament, Luca Visentini was dismissed on Saturday from his post as general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
The Italian trade unionist was arrested in December as part of the Belgian investigation into suspicions of corruption of MEPs involving Qatar and Morocco, then released on conditions after two days in police custody. He admitted, at the end of December, to having received “a donation of less than 50,000 euros” from the NGO Fight Impunity, led by former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, considered one of the suspects. folder keys. Luca Visentini then assured that it was the reimbursement of certain expenses of his campaign to take the head of the CSI.
The ITUC General Council issued a statement that “Luca Visentini no longer has his confidence as General Secretary” and that an “Extraordinary World Congress” would be organized “as soon as possible with a view to elect a new Secretary General”.
“No evidence of donations from Qatar or Morocco”
“The events of the past few months have significantly damaged the reputation of the ITUC. Important lessons have been learned. (…) We are determined to protect the ITUC from any form of undue influence, and even from any suspicion of influence”, commented Akiko Gono, the president of the organization.
The ITUC, which brings together 338 unions in 168 countries and territories around the world, however, claims to have found “no evidence of donations from Qatar or Morocco having influenced its policies or programs”.
Luca Visentini was elected in November as head of the organization, before being suspended from office on December 21 by the governing body of the ITUC.
Three people are currently in pre-trial detention in Belgium as part of the investigation opened by the Belgian courts into suspicions of interference by Qatar and Morocco in the positions taken by the European Parliament.
During a first wave of arrests and searches on December 9 in Brussels, investigators seized 1.5 million euros in cash. Qatar and Morocco have strongly denied being the source of any corruption.
