BRUSSELS — Belgian police arrested a
European Parliament vice-president and four others in connection with an investigation
into corruption implicating World Cup hosts Qatar, the prosecutors office said
Friday.
اضافة اعلان
Officers arrested Greek socialist MEP Eva Kaili hours after
four other suspects had been detained for questioning. All four were either
Italian citizens or originally came from Italy, a source close to the case told
AFP.
Kaili is the partner of one of the four, a parliamentary
assistant with the European Parliament's Socialists and Democrats group, said
the source.
Following reports of Kaili's arrest, the president of the
Greek socialists Nikos Androulakis announced on Twitter that she had been
expelled from the party.
A statement issued earlier by Belgian prosecutors mentioned
a Gulf country in connection with an investigation into corruption and money
laundering, but did not name it. And while it said a former MEP was among those
arrested, it did not identify him.
But Belgian press reports said the country concerned was
Qatar, and named the former MEP as Italy's Pier-Antonio Panzeri, who served as
a socialist in the parliament between 2004 and 2019.
600,000 euros seized
Belgium's federal prosecutor announced the earlier arrests
after a series of raids at 16 addresses raids in the capital Brussels.
"Today's searches have enabled investigators to recover
about 600,000 euros in cash," the prosecutors said in a statement.
"Computer equipment and mobile phones were also seized.
These elements will be analyzed as part of the investigations."
Investigators "suspected a
Gulf country (of
influencing) the economic and political decisions of the European
parliament", the statement added.
It alleged this was done "by paying large sums of money
or offering large gifts to" influential figures in the European
parliament.
A source close to the case confirmed press reports that the
investigation was into suspected attempts by Qatar to corrupt an Italian
Socialist former MEP, who Belgian outlets Le Soir and Knack named as Panzeri.
'Recognized and respected'
Kaili, 44, is a former television presenter and currently
one of the European Parliament's 14 vice presidents. In November, shortly
before the World Cup started, she met Qatar's Labor Minister
Ali bin Samikh Al Marri.
In a video statement posted on Twitter by the Qatar News
Agency she said: "I believe the World Cup for Arabs has been a great tool
for ... political transformation and reforms.”
The European Parliament "recognized and respected"
Qatar's progress in labor reforms, she added.
She made similar comments during a speech at the European
Parliament later in November, accusing some MEPs of "bullying" Qatar
and accusing them of corruption.
Panzeri, 67, currently heads a Brussels-based human rights
organization called Fight Impunity.
According to the reports, the secretary general of the
International Trade Union Confederation, Italian
Luca Visentini, was also among
those arrested. The confederation said it was "aware" of the media
reports, but had no further comment to make at present.
Corruption accusations
The alleged bribery comes as World Cup host Qatar has made a
major push to improve its image in the face of criticism over its record on
worker protections and human rights.
Interviewed by AFP on Monday, Visentini welcomed progress
made by Qatar on worker rights, but insisted "pressure" needed to be
maintained once the football tournament finishes.
Migrant workers make up more than 2.5 million of Qatar's 2.9
million population and labor conditions have been strongly criticized —
particularly in the lead-up to the World Cup.
Doha has implemented reforms to its migrant labor system,
but critics insist more work needs to be done to make sure the changes have an
impact.
Qatar's World Cup has also been dogged by accusations of
corruption surrounding the
FIFA members' vote to award the tournament to the
energy-rich Gulf state.
Belgium's France Soir newspaper pointed out that Friday's
police raids came on the UN-designated International Anti-Corruption Day.
Read more Region and World
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
