MEP Eva Kyle has pleaded “not guilty” and is asking to be released from prison, where she has been in preventive detention since being arrested by Qatargate on 9 December. This was announced at the gate of the court by his lawyers, who demanded that Kyle be released with an electronic bracelet, because, according to them, “he is innocent and has never accepted a bribe”. But the judge did not meet the request and extended the pre-trial detention of the former vice-president of the European Parliament by one month.
“As part of a large-scale investigation conducted by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office and the Federal Police regarding the alleged actions of a criminal organization, corruption and money laundering, a person appeared this morning in the Council Chamber of the Court of First Instance of Georgia. Brussels”, the Belgian prosecutor’s office reported regarding the appearance of the Greek MEP. And he adds: “The Chamber of the Council of Justice extended E.K. [Eva Kaili] one month”.
Prosecutors also say that if Kyle’s lawyers appeal the decision within 24 hours, Kyle has the right to appear again within the next 15 days.
“We have requested that Ms. Kyle be placed under electronic surveillance,” said lawyers Andre Rizopoulos and Michalis Dimitrakopoulos: “She is actively participating in the investigation, but denies any corruption.” We will not comment further. This would only be detrimental to Ms Kyle and could prejudice the investigation. This investigation should be conducted only by the judiciary and no one else.”
Risopoulos added, Collects the Belgian press: “I’ve never seen a breach investigation so secretive. I’m not the only one who thinks so. Federal prosecutors have now launched an investigation into the press leak. ”
“Ms. Eva Kyle is innocent,” Dimitrakopoulos added. “He was never bribed.”
Kyle is accused of taking bribes, allegedly from Qatar and Morocco. Investigators found €150,000 in cash in the Brussels apartment he shared with his partner, Francesco Giorgi, while he was in prison. His father, Alexandros Kai, was caught at the Sofitel hotel in Brussels with a suitcase containing around €600,000. Kylie has already admitted that she asked her father to hide some of the money at home.
The view of the former vice-president of the European Parliament appears a week later than his colleagues. On December 14, as reported by the Prosecutor’s Office, “as part of a large-scale investigation by the Federal Public Ministry and the Federal Police into an alleged criminal organization, corruption and money laundering, three persons appeared in the court’s council chamber. of the first instance of Brussels”.
“In his car,” the Belgian prosecutor’s office reported at the time, “the room confirmed F.G.’s preventive detention. [Francesco Giorgi] and PP [Pier Antonio Panzeri]”. In turn, “NF-T [ Niccolo Figa-Talamanca] He also remains in custody, but with an electronic bracelet.”
Also, the prosecutor’s office reported, “the accused E.K [Eva Kaili] He did not attend the session because he asked for postponement; It will be released on December 22.
But Kylie has already begun to give some details of Qatargate, an alleged bribery plot with money from Qatar and Morocco to twist the will and wash the image of the two countries in Brussels. a) yes According to the information spread in the Italian and Belgian media, The former vice-president of the European Parliament admitted that the investigators ordered his father to hide part of the cash, caught for half a million euros in the Sofitel hotel in central Brussels.
According to documents consulted by Le Soir and La Repubblica, his partner, Francesco Giorgi, has already admitted to investigators that he was part of a conspiracy used by both Morocco and Qatar to interfere in European affairs. He gave partial recognition.
In particular, according to Le Soir, the Greek MEP admitted that he asked his father to hide the money. Kyle’s father was arrested on December 9, the day of a major anti-corruption operation, while he was at the Sofitel (Etterbeek) in Brussels with a suitcase full of cash.
Hearings revealed that the father, during several days in the Belgian capital, received an order from the former vice-president of the European Parliament to hide a large number of bills in his possession.
“The defendant admits that he instructed his father to hide the money,” wrote investigating judge Michael Claesi in an arrest warrant issued by the Greek European Parliament on December 9. “He claims to have known about his husband’s activities. [Francesco Giorgi] Suitcases with taxes transferred to Mr. Panzer and his apartment.
Pier Antonio Panzeri, a former Italian Socialist MEP who was arrested the same day in Brussels, is the alleged ringleader of the plot, according to witnesses, and who had former Greek European Commissioner Dimitri Avramopoulos on the payroll of his NGO. , the fight against impunity and a member of the conservative New Democracy Party (EPP).
According to the Belgian newspaper Le Soir, when the police came out of Giorgi’s apartment, a panic struck on rue Viertz in Bruxelles.
The Belgian justice system, in addition to the father responsible for hiding part of the loot, notes that the Greek MEP “tried to warn Mr. Panzer, but also the two MEPs mentioned in this investigation,” according to a Belgian newspaper. It is mentioned in the court document, which does not specify the names of the MEPs.
Instructions from Panzer to George
Former Italian Socialist MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, the alleged ringleader of the plot, appears in phone records giving instructions to Francesco Giorgi, Kyle’s partner.
According to Le Soir, Panzer himself, who was arrested in his Brussels apartment with about 600,000 euros in cash, was forced to partially confess his involvement in the case that shook the European Parliament.
“Complaint by the European parliamentarian [socialista belga] Mark Tarabella as a beneficiary of Qatari ‘gifts’,” wrote investigating judge Panzeri, who provided details of corruption and interference in favor of Qatar and Morocco.
The case is transferred to the European Commission
Qatargate begins to contact the representatives of the executive power of the society. As published by La Stampa and admitted by Dimitri Avramopoulos himself, the former Greek European Commissioner, a member of the conservative New Democracy Party (PPE), collected €60,000 from the Panzeri NGO, Fight Impunity, between February 2021 and February 2022.
According to La StampaThe work Avramopoulos has been paid for consists of an event in Greece, a webinar introduction and an online article. Indeed, this will be the only public trace of the “publicity activity” of the NGO Fight Impunity, for which former Commissioner Avramopoulos received €60,000.
“Committee [de la ONG] in which I participated with such personalities as Federica Mogherini [ex jefa de la diplomacia europea]Former French MP Bernard Cazeneuve and Senator Emma Bonino were honored […] For my participation and accompanying compensation, I requested the approval of the European Commission, which was given to me in writing by the President. [de la Comisión Europea, Ursula] von der Leyen,” Avramopoulos said in a statement.
The community’s executive said on Monday that he would review the case to find out what happened to Avramopoulos and the NGO. But the former Greek commissioner decided to fight back and began talking about an alleged plot to boycott his candidacy as the EU’s next special representative for Gulf relations.
“There is an organized effort by certain circles in Italy to distort the image of my participation, completely legal and formal, in the fight against impunity. The first objective is to weaken the candidacy I put forward for the position of EU Special Representative in the Persian Gulf and, of course, to support the Italian Socialist candidate. [Di Maio]Avramopoulos told Enikos.gr.
The row reached EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who appeared to temporarily freeze the nomination process.
As the European Commission admitted on Wednesday, the former European Commissioner for Home Affairs from 2014 to 2019 met with several members of the current College of Commissioners on the eve of the World Cup in Qatar. “He visited several commissioners at least between November 15 and 17, 2021, in what the commissioners describe as courtesy visits to former colleagues,” according to European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer, who noted that Avramopoulos had met. with his successor, the Swede Ylva Johansson, and the current health commissioner, the Cypriot Stella Kyriakides.
“In none of those meetings, as far as we understood, he did not represent this organization. [la ONG Fight Impunity]According to Mamer, issues related to Qatar were not discussed either.
In addition, the executive leadership of the community decided to suspend funds to the NGO “No Peace Without Justice”, Niccolo Figa-Talamanca, who was also investigated by the Belgian Justice in Qatargate.
Source: El Diario
