The former Vice-President of the EU Parliament lost her job and even went to jail due to suspicions of corruption – now the Greek woman has suffered another defeat. She failed in her attempt to challenge the waiver of her immunity in court.
On Tuesday evening, the EU court declared inadmissible Kaili’s lawsuit against the planned procedure, in which she could lose her parliamentary immunity. The former parliamentary vice president had tried to annul European Attorney General Laura Kövesi’s request for immunity to be waived.
The Greek politician also regarded a decision by parliament speaker Roberta Metsola as illegal. It had decided to announce the motion in Parliament’s plenary session and refer it to the Legal Affairs Committee.
The background to the European Attorney General’s request is an investigation into the administration of parliamentary remuneration for assistants and the suspicion of fraud at the expense of the EU budget. This case is separate from the bribery scandal in which Kaili is allegedly involved. During the investigation, the Belgian Public Prosecution Service did not request that Kaili’s immunity be waived, because according to them, Kaili had been caught red-handed in an alleged crime.
Released under house arrest after four months in prison
The bribery scandal that became known at the end of 2022 concerns alleged influence on decisions of the EU Parliament by the governments of Qatar and Morocco. The Public Prosecution Service accuses several suspects of corruption, money laundering and membership of a criminal organization. 45-year-old Kaili is one of them. The Greek woman was arrested in early December 2022. In April 2023, she was allowed to leave prison after about four months and was placed under house arrest under electronic monitoring. This coercive measure was subsequently lifted in May.
Next authority: European Court of Justice
It is still unclear to what extent the allegations against Kaili can be proven. The Public Prosecution Service recently confirmed that any formal errors in the investigation must also be investigated. In mid-May this year, it will be investigated whether her immunity was violated during the investigations against Kaili. In theory, Kaili can still take action against the EU Court’s ruling at the European Court of Justice from next Tuesday.
Source: Krone
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