By Le Figaro with AFP
Posted 4 hours ago, updated 47 minutes ago
A session in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, January 17, 2023. FRIEDRICH FLORIN / AFP
An alleged corruption scandal involving Qatar has been rocking the European Parliament for a month.
Spectacular setback in Qatargate: Former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, a currently detained prime suspect, on Tuesday agreed to cooperate with the Belgian judiciary and share his knowledge of this alleged corruption scandal in favor of Qatar.
At the end of this agreement, the former socialist MP undertakes to inform the investigators about the modus operandi of the fraud, the financial agreements with third countries, the identity of the people “whom he suspects of having corrupted” and the possible involvement of people “on file still.” not known”. His statements must be “substantive, insightful, sincere and complete,” specified the federal prosecutor.
In exchange for this cooperation, the ex-MP, who became head of the Brussels-based NGO Fight Impunity in 2019, will be sentenced to a “limited” prison sentence.
SEE ALSO – Qatargate: the scandal rocking the European Parliament
An “effective but limited” penalty
His attorney, Laurent Kennes, told AFP that the sentence, negotiated with prosecutors, would not exceed one year. “The sentence is five years imprisonment, but pardon for the portion exceeding one year. That means he will spend a year in detention, part of it under an electronic bracelet,” Laurent Kennes said.
This draft contract still has to be validated by the Chamber of Council, the court responsible for overseeing the investigations in Belgium. Pier Antonio Panzeri, 67, was arrested in Brussels on December 9, the day of a wave of searches and arrests that also ended with a European Parliament vice-president, Greek Socialist-elected Eva Kaili, being found imprisoned.
The same scenario for the parliamentary assistant Francesco Giorgi, companion of Eva Kaili, and for Niccolo Figa-Talamanca, another NGO manager, also Italian. These four suspects, who have been detained for more than five weeks, have all been charged with “affiliation with a criminal organization”, “money laundering” and “corruption”.
They are suspected of raising large sums of money from Qatar to influence policy statements and decisions within the EU’s only elected body, particularly on workers’ rights, in favor of the emirate.
Morocco was also mentioned in this survey. According to press reports, the Cherifian kingdom used Pier Antonio Panzeri as an entry point to represent its interests in the European Parliament. Both Qatar and Morocco have firmly denied these allegations.
Central figure in the investigation
Pier Antonio Panzeri is a central figure in the investigation. During the December 9 raid, Belgian police discovered €600,000 in cash at his home in Brussels, according to a court source. He must now explain the origin of these funds and the exact object of the corruption.
Maxim Töller, Marc Tarabella’s lawyer, again strongly denied on Tuesday that this Belgian socialist MEP – whose judiciary has called for the immunity to be lifted – could be one of the “corrupt”.
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“Be it a gift or money, Marc Tarabella has not received anything,” said the lawyer of the AFP news agency, assuring that Pier Antonio Panzeri’s statements to investigators, quoted by the newspaper “L’Echo”, paid the Belgian “between 120,000″ and 140,000 Euro” were false. Marc Tarabella’s house in the Liège (east) region was searched on December 10 as part of the investigation, but no cash was found.
According to his lawyer, Pier Antonio Panzeri is relieved by the agreement with the federal prosecutor. “He knows where he’s going (in terms of sanctions), everything is negotiated, the verdict is set, so he can express himself,” argued Laurent Kennes.
After Serbian players’ agent Dejan Veljkovic, the Italian official is the second in a major corruption scandal in Belgian football to benefit from a 2018 Belgian law on the status of ‘repentant’ modeled on Italian anti-mafia practice.
SEE ALSO – Qatargate: Eva Kaili’s lawyers are demanding placement under an electronic bracelet