Former MEP Panzeri allegedly received bribes and gifts from the two governments through an ambassador to an Eastern EU country
The implications of ‘Qatargate’ are growing. The plot of corruption and bribery within the European Parliament to influence its economic and political decisions would also spread to Morocco, according to investigative documents published by the German weekly ‘Der Spiegel’. The papers in question would point to former MEP Antonio Panzeri, who allegedly accepted money from both Qatar and Rabat to intervene in certain policies.
Apparently, according to the same documents, two members of Panzeri’s family – who are still under arrest, as well as three other defendants – helped transport the “gifts” the MEP received through the Moroccan ambassador of a country from the east of the European Union. Precisely, in recent days the Italian police have arrested the politician’s wife and daughter, who are accused of knowing about the illegal affairs of Panzeri, considered by the Belgian media to be the leader of this plot.
But the arrest that has attracted the most attention is that of one of the vice-presidents of the European Parliament, Eva Kaili, and the most senior person involved in the plot. Today, like the other three arrested, he had to appear in court, but that was not possible due to a strike in the prison where he is sitting. She will eventually appear on December 22 and remain in detention until then.
Her lawyer, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, said in Athens that the vice president will defend her “innocence” in court. He assured that Kaili “has no relation to the money found at his house (…) he did not know of its existence”. “Only his partner”, Francesco Giorgi – with whom he lived and who is also being charged – can “provide answers about the existence of this money”, he stated. Pockets full of bills worth about $150,000 in cash were found in the apartment they shared. In addition, Kaili’s father was found shortly after the house search with a suitcase containing about 750,000 euros.
The other three defendants appeared in court yesterday, which, according to the federal prosecutor’s office, confirmed the pre-trial detention of Panzeri and Giorgi and the probation (via an electronic bracelet) of Nicolò A. Figá-Talamanca. Of course, they can appeal against this decision within the next 24 hours and appear before the Court of Appeal in Brussels within fifteen days.
Meanwhile, the European Parliament is still in the eye of the hurricane and the plenary, which today meets in Strasbourg, is trying to clear the institution’s name. All political groups yesterday agreed on a resolution to ban Qatari representatives from entering the European Parliament until the ongoing judicial investigation is completed. The same text, which will be voted on tomorrow, highlights the need to increase the transparency and accountability of the European institutions.
The groups also demand that work on the legislative files related to Qatar be halted, in particular that of visa liberalisation, which was due to be discussed in the current plenary session. MEPs propose extending the European Transparency Register to representatives of third countries and strengthening this mechanism to make it more effective.
As more information about the plot emerges, suspicions grow inside and outside the Eurochamber. Several MEPs this week called for an investigation into European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas, who has repeatedly praised Qatar’s progress on labor rights and attended the opening of the World Cup in Doha. “I received gifts from Qatar: a football, promotional material for the championship and a box of chocolates. I gave them all to the driver who took me to the stadium,” the commissioner said when questioned by journalists.
Anyone who has spoken out for Qatar in the past year is likely involved in the controversy. Among them is Spanish MEP José Ramón Bauzá, from Ciudadanos, who chairs the Qatar-European Union Friendship Group. However, the Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, denies that any Spanish politician is being investigated “neither near nor far” in the context of ‘Qatargate’.
Source: La Verdad
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