The European Parliament on Thursday lifted the immunity of two MPs targeted by the Belgian judiciary in the alleged corruption scandal in favor of Qatar and Morocco, paving the way for their hearing by investigators.
MEPs gathered in Brussels gave a show of hands to lift the immunity of Belgian Marc Tarabella and Italian Andrea Cozzolino.
The two elected officials who were temporarily expelled from the Socialist & Democrat (S&D) group deny any wrongdoing. Mr Tarabella, present in the hemicycle, voted to have his own immunity waived.
“It’s fair that I’m providing information about the questions[investigators]want to ask me. I want justice to do its job,” said the Belgian MP as he left.
From now on, “everything will be possible, (…) this does not necessarily mean that there will be coercive measures, but the judiciary gives itself all the means to be able to work as for any litigant,” explained Eric to AFP Van Duyse, spokesman for the Belgian public prosecutor.
According to the parliamentary report on the waiver of Marc Tarabella’s immunity, written by French MEP Manon Aubry (LFI), “it would appear (…) from the ongoing investigations that (the latter) during the two years is suspected of having held certain positions within of the European Parliament in favor of a third country in exchange for cash prizes”.
The report mentions testimony against him by Italian Pier Antonio Panzeri, a former socialist MEP-turned-NGO leader and who is a central figure in the case, who claimed in December he had paid Marc “between 120,000 and 140,000 euros” on several occasions to have Tarabella for his assistance in Qatar-related matters.
Pier Antonio Panzeri, who along with three other suspects was charged and remanded in custody, in January struck an agreement with the judicial system under which he undertook to provide information about the corruption scheme, in which he admits his involvement, in exchange for a prison sentence of Imprisonment limited to one year.
Mr Tarabella’s home in the Liège (east) region was searched in December but no cash was found. And the person concerned denies having received “money or gifts in exchange for (his) political opinion”.
“The account is not there »
In this incredible affair, Belgian investigators got their hands on €1.5 million in cash seized from the homes of Mr Panzeri and Greek Socialist MEP Eva Kaili, as well as a suitcase carried by that man’s father.
Like Mr Panzeri, Ms Kaili is also in prison, as are her companions, Italian Francesco Giorgi, parliamentary assistant, and another Italian, Niccolo Figa-Talamanca, head of an NGO. They are accused of “membership of a criminal organization”, “money laundering” and “corruption”. Eva Kaili was also relieved of her position as Vice-President of Parliament in mid-December.
According to the parliamentary report on Mr Cozzolino, who until January was chairman of the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with the Maghreb, the latter is “suspected of having participated in an agreement with other persons which provided for cooperation to protect the interests of foreign States in the European Parliament”.
And this “in particular by preventing the adoption of parliamentary decisions that could damage the interests of these states, in exchange for monetary amounts”.
The scandal, which sent shockwaves through the European Parliament, prompted the institution’s President, Maltese Roberta Metsola (EPP, right), to announce reforms.
But for Manon Aubry, rapporteur on the motions to lift the immunities of the two elected officials and co-chair of the GUE/NGL (radical left) group in Parliament, “the account isn’t there”.
“Justice is advancing, that’s a good thing. Now it’s up to the politicians to do their job and from that perspective it’s standing still,” she told AFP, judging Roberta Metsola’s proposals “a thousand miles away from the ‘ambition’ of a resolution passed by MPs in December.
“We will not see the last time of outside interference in our work, be it from private lobbies or third countries, until we agree to a profound reform of the functioning of our institutions,” she warned, launching the “sanction warning” in the 2024 European elections , which could emanate from the citizens”.