Qatar in the picture – corruption scandal shakes up the EU Parliament

We are talking about significant amounts and donations. Kaili, one of the 14 vice-presidents of the European Parliament, was arrested Friday night in her apartment in Brussels and is being questioned by police, sources familiar with the case said. Four Italians had previously been arrested, including Kaili’s partner Francesco Giorgi, who works for the Social Democratic Group in the European Parliament.

Pier Antonio Panzeri was also taken. From 2004 to 2019, he was a Social Democrat in the EP and now leads the non-governmental organization Fight Impunity, which campaigns against impunity for human rights abuses. Among those arrested is the Secretary General of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Luca Visentini.

“Considerable sums” poured in
The Belgian prosecutor only said that the country involved in the corruption case was a “Gulf state”. He is suspected of “influencing the economic and political decisions of the European Parliament” by “paying substantial sums of money or giving away substantial gifts”. The beneficiaries are personalities with a “politically and/or strategically important position” in the EU Parliament.

The AFP news agency was confirmed by circles familiar with the investigation to be the Gulf state of Qatar. The Belgian daily newspaper “Le Soir” and the weekly magazine “Knack” reported this earlier after joint research.

According to the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office, a total of 16 house searches took place in Brussels on Friday. The police seized cash worth about 600,000 euros, as well as data carriers and mobile phones, which are now being evaluated. It is therefore determined for “gang corruption and money laundering”.

Kaili accused MEPs of ‘intimidating’ Qatar
Shortly before the start of the World Cup in Qatar, the 44-year-old former TV presenter Kaili met with the Qatari Minister of Labour, Ali bin Samich Al Marri. On behalf of the EU, she welcomed Qatar’s commitment to “continue labor reforms”.

On November 22, Kaili said in the European Parliament that the World Cup in Qatar was “concrete evidence of how sports diplomacy can lead to a historic transformation of a country whose reforms have inspired the Arab world”. Qatar is a “leader in labor rights”. On the other hand, she accused some MEPs of “intimidating” Qatar and being corrupt.

NGOs see human rights violated by migrant workers
For years, NGOs have accused Qatar of violating the human rights of hundreds of thousands of migrant workers from Asia and Africa. In response, Doha introduced labor law reforms. However, unions are demanding more consistent application of the new rules.

ITUC Secretary General Visentini praised the improvement in the situation of workers in Qatar earlier this week in an interview published by AFP on Friday. At the same time, he called for “continued pressure on authorities and employers” to achieve better wages and more mobility at work. The ITUC said on its website that it was aware of reports of corruption allegations against Visentini but would not comment on them “at this stage”.

Reports of ill-treatment of migrant workers have overshadowed the current World Cup in Qatar for years. In 2021, the British newspaper The Guardian reported that 6,500 foreign workers had died in the wealthy Gulf state since the 2010 FIFA World Cup was awarded to Qatar. Qatar rejected this. Between 2014 and 2020, 414 migrant workers have died in workplace accidents, according to the Doha government.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) documented about 50 workplace fatalities in Qatar in 2020 and 500 serious injuries. At the same time, the ILO stressed that the relevant data is often not available.