European Parliament vice-president and Greek Socialist MEP Eva Kaili has been arrested as the police investigate possible corruption at EP.
Kaili, 44, is one of fourteen vice-presidents at the European Parliament. She has been an MEP since 2014.
The Greek MEP was questioned on Friday evening in connection with an investigation into suspected corruption involving “a Gulf country” AFP and Belgian news outlet Le Soir reported quoting the prosecutor’s office.
Euronews reported that Kaili’s office was sealed by Belgian police along with the offices of two Belgian Socialist MEPs, Maria Arena and Marc Tarabella, quoting EP sources.
Arena has denied any wrongdoing, and said it was her assistant who was involved.
According to Greek and Belgian media outlets, Kaili’s partner was among the four arrests made in Brussels on Friday morning in connection to the case.
In the meantime, the Greek socialist party, PASOK, has expelled Kaili while the Socialists and Democrats (S&D), of which PASOK is member at an EU level, has suspended Kaili’s membership with immediate effect.
14 locations were searched during the raids which took place on Friday, with the Belgian Federal Prosecutor’s office saying it recovered €600,000 in cash. Computers and mobile phones were also seized during the search.
“For several months, investigators of the Federal Judicial Police have suspected a Gulf country to influence the economic and political decisions of the European Parliament, this is done so by paying large sums of money or offering large gifts to third parties with a significant political and/or strategic position within the European Parliament,” it said.
Whilst the “Gulf state” was not identified by the prosecutor’s office, Le Soir identified the country as Qatar.
ANSA reported that four Italian nationals: Niccolò Figà-Talamanca – the director of No Peace Without Justice NGO, Luca Visentini – a trade union leader; former S&D MEP Pier-Antonio Panzeri, and parliamentary assistant in the S&D group and Kaili’s partner, Francesco Giorgi, have been arrested. /Argumentum.al
