The beneficiaries are personalities with “a significant political and/or strategic position” in the European Parliament.
The arrested quartet are all believed to be Italian citizens: director of No Peace Without Justice NGO Niccolò Figà-Talamanca; trade union leader Luca Visentini; the former S&D MEP Pier-Antonio Panzeri; and parliamentary assistant in the S&D group and Kaili’s partner, Francesco Giorgi, according to Italian news agency ANSA.
Kaili, 44, has been an MEP since 2014.
Contacted by Euronews, the European Parliament’s press services said that “the European Parliament does not comment on judicial proceedings”.
“As always, the European Parliament fully cooperates with the national authorities in charge. The same in this specific case,” they added.
The centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), the largest in the hemicycle, said that “no stone should be left unturned” in the ongoing investigation.
“There is no place for corruption anywhere in the EU. The authorities have our full support,” the group said.
The Greens MEP from Germany, Anna Cavazzini, shared her surprise about Kaili’s arrest on Twitter.
“This is quite shocking if suspicions come true,” Cavazzini tweeted. “I heard her very pro-Qatar speech (at the) plenary and was extremely surprised about it.”
Source : Euronews