One of the longest and darkest days for the European Union. Which ended with a disgrace for the only institution directly elected by the citizens: shortly before 8 pm in the third floor atrium of the European Parliament headquarters, where the bar is usually crowded with deputies, officials and assistants, a group of agents of the Belgian judicial police were discussing which offices to search as part of the investigation into alleged corruption from Qatar.
Seals on some EP offices in Strasbourg
They had already sealed some rooms in sector G, Palazzo Spinelli, on the fifteenth floor where the offices – among others – of MEPs Marc Tarabella, Alessandra Moretti and Maria Arena are located. At least three other offices were sealed off on the tenth floor, including that of vice president Eva Kaili (S&D). The agents, in civilian clothes with the police band on their arm, moved towards sector Q, where they stayed for at least another half hour. Before leaving, they took a photo of the crib, set up near the Christmas tree, also on the third floor. The screens broadcast the plenary, which in the meantime was being held in the other seat of the Parliament, in Strasbourg, 440 kilometers away. And for the first time she was coming to terms with herself.
The rooms of Cozzolino and Moretti (Pd) are under observation
According to what has been ascertained by Ansa, the sealed offices in the buildings of the Eurochamber in Strasbourg are linked to at least two MEPs: Cozzolino and Alessandra Moretti, both in the ranks of the Democratic Party. These are the rooms where the parliamentary assistants of the two socialist exponents work and the seals follow the searches that took place in the EP buildings in Brussels. Francesco Giorgi, parliamentary assistant of Andrea Cozzolino, is under arrest. While in the past few hours, in the Belgian capital, the office of one of Moretti’s parliamentary assistants, Federica Garbagnati, was searched, who is not among the suspects. Not even Moretti and Cozzolino are under investigation by the Belgian prosecutor.
Metsola: I’m furious
“I have to choose my words carefully so as not to jeopardize the ongoing investigation or in any way undermine the presumption of innocence. So if my anger, my anger, my pain shouldn’t show through, I assure you that they are very present”. You were the premise of the president of the Parliament, Roberta Metsola. And the anger, the pain, the disappointment, transpired. On her face and in her words. She who on Saturday was “forced” to return home from Malta to attend the search of a Belgian MEP, as required by the country’s constitution. That deputy, the press revealed, was Tarabella. According to parliamentary sources, seals have also been placed on the offices of some MEPs in Strasbourg. Among the offices that have been banned from entering, we still learn, that of Pd MEP Andrea Cozzolino.
Tomorrow at 8.30 the revocation of the vice president Kaili
Tomorrow morning the conference of presidents of the European Parliament, made up of president Metsola plus the political group leaders, will meet at 8.30 to decide on the revocation of the election of the socialist vice-president Eva Kaili, arrested for corruption. In the history of Parliament there has been only one precedent for the application of Article 21 to dismiss a vice-president of the Eurochamber, that of the Pole Ryszard Czarnecki, removed from the position of vice-president on 7 February 2018 due to “serious shortcomings”.
Emma Bonino: I resign from the board of Fight Impunity
«Years ago, I accepted the proposal to become a member of the Advisory board of Fight Impunity due to the quality of the other personalities who were part of it and for the purposes of the association which went in the same direction as my battle for the affirmation of criminal justice international”. This was stated by Emma Bonino, leader of +Europa, in a press release in which she adds «since the Advisory board has never met, faced with the situation that we have all learned from the press reports, I also feel it my duty to resign from this position with immediate effect”.
Found 17 thousand euros in Calusco d’Adda
Cash for a sum of 17 thousand euros were seized yesterday evening by the Guardia di Finanza in the home of the Panzeri family in Calusco d’Adda, in the province of Bergamo. The sum was found during searches carried out in execution of a European investigation order as part of the Brussels investigation into alleged bribes from Qatar and Morocco, in exchange for political support to the European Parliament. At the moment, Panzeri’s wife, Maria Dolores Colleoni, is under house arrest in the house, recipient together with her daughter Silvia of a European arrest warrant.
Panzeri’s bank accounts are being investigated
According to what emerges from investigative sources, bank checks on various accounts attributable to the former MEP Antonio Panzeri were carried out by the men of the Guardia di Finanza of Milan in execution of a European investigation order in the Brussels investigation, which led to the arrest among others of Panzeri, his wife and daughter. The search order signed by Milan’s assistant prosecutor Fabio De Pasquale, head of the international affairs department, concerns in particular the home of the Panzeri family in Calusco D’Adda (Bergamo), but also an office in Milan and the Milanese home of the arrested Francesco Giorgi, former collaborator of the former MEP dem Panzeri.
Gdf bank checks of wife and daughter
In addition to the house searches, bank checks were also carried out on the current accounts attributable to the Panzeri family. All the investigative material collected by the judicial police section of the Milan prosecutor’s office, coordinated by the assistant prosecutor Fabio De Pasquale, will then be sent to the Belgian authorities in the context of international cooperation which makes use of the collaboration of Eurojust. The banking relationships – from what has been learned – have not yet been seized.
The houses of Panzeri’s family were searched in Milan
The Guardia di Finanza of Milan also searched the home of Francesco Giorgi, former assistant of Antonio Panzeri and companion of the vice president of the European Parliament Eva Kaili, also arrested in the context of the Brussels investigation into alleged bribes paid by Qatar and from Morocco. The Guardia di Finanza also carried out checks on the bank accounts of both Panzeri and Giorgi.
Brussels, the bribe scandal paid by Qatar is spreading
MARCO BRESOLIN
Prosecutor of Belgium: “frozen” computers of 10 assistants
Since the beginning of the operation by the Belgian judiciary which led to the arrest of 6 people and 20 searches, starting last Friday, “the computer systems of ten parliamentary assistants have been frozen to prevent the data necessary for the investigation from disappearing ». This is what we read in a press release from the Belgian prosecutor’s office. The prosecutor’s file, “managed by a Brussels investigating judge”, has been “opened for more than four months for corruption, money laundering and criminal organization”, explains the note.
Wednesday hearing of 4 arrested
The four accused whose arrests have been confirmed will appear before the judge on Wednesday, the prosecutor’s note continues. “Since Friday, with the support of the European Parliament’s security services, the IT resources of 10 parliamentary assistants had been frozen” so that the data they contained would not disappear. Today’s search of the European Parliament “had therefore as its objective to obtain this data”. «Other searches – continues the federal prosecutor – took place yesterday in Italy. In all, since the beginning of the operations, there have been 20 searches: 19 in residences and offices in addition to today’s one in the premises of the European Parliament. Several hundred thousand euros were seized in three different places: 600 thousand at the home of one of the suspects, several hundred thousand in a suitcase that was in a hotel room in Brussels and around 150 thousand in an apartment owned by an MEP. To date, 6 people have been arrested in this file. For four, including a European parliamentarian, the state of arrest was confirmed”. The note confirms without mentioning her that the arrest of Vice President Eva Kaili was possible despite her parliamentary immunity because she was faced with a case of flagrante delicto.
Self-suspensions and resignations
Meanwhile, Marc Tarabella was suspended from the Socialists & Democrats group, just as Marie Arena resigned as president of the DROI commission, which deals with human rights. Pietro Bartolo resigned as “shadow” rapporteur for the LIBE commission dossier on visa liberalisation, and Andrea Cozzolino resigned as S&D emergency coordinator.
The plan of the enemies of democracy has failed
“The enemies of democracy – Metsola explained – for whom the very existence of this Parliament is a threat, will stop at nothing. These malicious actors, linked to autocratic third countries, have allegedly armed NGOs, unions, individuals, assistants and MEPs in an attempt to subjugate our trials. Their evil plans have failed. Our services, of which I am incredibly proud, have long been collaborating with the competent national police and judicial authorities to dismantle this alleged criminal network. Metsola also explained what the measures were to secure Europe and collaborate in the investigations. “We have acted in harmony with the authorities to ensure compliance with all legal steps, the conservation of all information and, where necessary, the securing of IT equipment, the sealing of offices and the possibility of carrying out house searches. Last weekend, I accompanied a judge and the Belgian police, as required by the Belgian constitution, to a house search,” she added.
THE BOARD
Eva Kaili’s ascent, from TV to the Qatar scandal
These are difficult days for Metsola. “I think it’s no exaggeration to say that these were among the longest days of my career. I have to choose my words carefully so as not to jeopardize the ongoing investigation or in any way undermine the presumption of innocence. And I will. So, if my fury, my anger, my pain don’t show, I assure you they are very much there, along with my determination for this Assembly to grow stronger. Make no mistake: the European Parliament, dear colleagues, is under attack. European democracy is under attack. And our way of open, free and democratic societies is under attack,” Metsola said.
Stop visa waiver negotiations
Qatargate also has consequences on the diplomatic level. “Today I was also due to announce the opening of the negotiating mandate for the visa waiver relationship with Qatar and Kuwait. In the light of the investigation, this report will have to be referred back to committee,’ said Metsola.
Tajani: the investigation will not damage the Italian system
“Italy is a large country and, if there are parliamentarians or assistants who have committed crimes, it is a question that concerns individuals and not the Italian system”. So the Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, at the end of the Foreign Affairs Council. “We must not allow the alleged corruption of some in the violation of rules with unacceptable behavior on the part of some to damage the role of the European Parliament, the only democratic institution elected by the citizens, and of the EU,” added Tajani. «President Metsola, who has all our support, is right to defend the role of Parliament and to insist on transparency. We share all the initiatives you announced this afternoon in Strasbourg », he concluded.
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