belgian court This Friday, he extended the makeshift prison regime for another two months for the Greek Social Democratic MP and former vice president. European Parliament eva kailiaccused by criminal organization, corruption And money laundering Linked to Morocco and Qatar in the bribery scheme in the European Parliament.
Kaili, 44 years old and who 84 days in prison, appeared before an appeals court in Brussels last Tuesday, asking the court to be released for the fourth time with an electronic wristband. “As part of the large-scale investigation conducted by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office on suspicion of criminal organization, corruption and money laundering, EK and MT appeared before the Brussels Court of Appeals on February 28. The precautionary detention of these two has been extended for two and one month respectively for the defendants. ‘ it was said.
The other defendant is the Belgian Socialist Deputy, Marc TarabellaMoreover European Parliament imprisoned for lifting its immunity At the beginning of February.
Among other reasons, Kaili claimed she only had a two-year-old daughter, whom she only saw twice a month, and denounced her suffering. degrading treatment in prison. Deputy MP Francesco Giorgi, who is accused of the same charges as Kaili and his wife and father of his daughter, was released on February 23 with an electronic wristband.
At the beginning of February, Niccolo Figa-Talamanca, Italian lobbyist and general secretary of the NGO No Peace Without Justice, was also released under probation.
In its place, The alleged ringleader is currently in prison corruption conspiracy, former Italian MP Antonio PanzeriHe agreed with the prosecutor’s office for less punishment in exchange for detailing the workings of the bribery network and uncovering other people involved.
Scandal in Brussels
Kaili, Giorgi, Figa-Talamanca and Panzeri were arrested as part of a series of agent raids on different buildings and houses in Belgium on 9 December. More than one and a half million euros in cash, computers and mobile phones were seized.
Member of the European Parliament and the dismissed Eurochamber vice president arrested in this operation despite having parliamentary immunity. because investigators thought he had committed a flagrant crime because they found a large amount of cash in his home and caught his father leaving a hotel in Brussels with a suitcase full of money.
Police also searched the home of Belgian Socialist MP Marc Tarabella in Anthisnes in southern Belgium, but found no evidence to warrant his immediate arrest. They therefore asked the European Parliament to lift the parliamentary immunity of Tarabella and the Italian Social Democrat MP Andrea Cozzolino in order to formally investigate them.
When the plenary of the European Parliament withdrew this judicial protection, the police arrested Tarabella on 10 February, searched her home again and confiscated a safe deposit box she kept in her name at a bank in Liège.
According to leaks published by the Belgian press, the circle of Tarabella, whom Panzeri accused of involvement in the conspiracy, insisted. “she is innocent, has nothing to be ashamed of and has never received money or gifts for her ideas”while congratulating him for “soon to be transferred to a prison closer to his family”.
Cozzolino’s defense, who is under house arrest in Naples (southern Italy), questioned last Tuesday whether Belgian Justice could guarantee him a fair trial, as he credited the “inventions” of his accuser Panzeri. The hearing for the decision on the European search warrant sent by the Belgian Judge for extradition was later postponed to 14 March.