In mid-December, bags of banknotes were discovered at the home of one of the vice-presidents of the European Parliament. According to investigators, it could be bribes from Qatar.
A first step. The European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee voted unanimously on Tuesday to lift the immunity of two Socialist MEPs in connection with the alleged corruption case involving Qatar and Morocco, the rapporteur announced. , Manon Aubry.
The elected officials concerned are the Belgian Marc Tarabella and the Italian Andrea Cozzolino, whose Belgian justice requested in early January the lifting of parliamentary immunities.
This first green light will have to be confirmed Thursday by a vote in plenary session, from 10 a.m. (11 a.m. in France), according to a spokesperson for the Parliament.
Four people already imprisoned
“Justice is moving forward. Unfortunately, Parliament is not as effective in adopting anti-corruption reforms, ”tweeted French MEP Manon Aubry (LFI-NUPES), author of the reports in favor of lifting the immunity of the two elected officials.
In this resounding affair of corruption which is shaking the European Parliament, four people have been imprisoned: the former Italian socialist MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, the elected Greek socialist Eva Kaili, the latter’s companion, the Italian parliamentary assistant Francesco Giorgi , as well as the Italian Niccolo Figa-Talamanca, head of NGOs.
They were charged with “belonging to a criminal organization”, “money laundering” and “corruption”. In total, Belgian investigators got their hands on 1.5 million euros in cash, seized from the homes of Pier Antonio Panzeri and Eva Kaili, one of the vice-presidents of Parliament, as well as from a suitcase transported by her father.
Source: leparisien
