
ER Editor: See this preliminary report we published 3 days ago –
Top EU Parliament Officials Arrested In Huge Qatar-Linked Corruption Probe
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According to the report below, there are now 5 suspects. The number ‘six’ is also mentioned. It is clear that left-wing politicians have been caught, most of them Italian with one Greek, Eva Kaili (pictured above, left). Another (now former) MEP, named below as Antonio PANZERI, appears in the list of 226 Soros MEPs on p. 24 HERE.
This euractiv report gives us the names of two more Italians, Luca Visentini, the general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and Nicolo Figa Talamanca, director of the NGO ‘No Peace Without Justice’. Apparently, the judge working on corruption in relation to Qatar and the World Cup has been at this since the start of this year.
Altogether, that makes six suspects so far: Kaili, Arena, Tarabella, Panzeri, Visentini and Talamanca.
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For fallout in Greece, see this report:
‘Qatargate’ reshuffles the cards ahead of Greek elections
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French MEP Virginie Joron has this to say about the developing scandal, angling her comments toward French socialists, who it must be said have not been named in the scandal [machine-translated]:
We are only at the beginning of the pilot to be unrolled. But it turns out that the group involved, at this stage, in Qatargate, is the socialist group to which Raphaël Glucksmann belongs. André’s son is also the President of the INGE2 Commission, whose full title is :
Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, including Disinformation ( INGE )
or Special Committee on Foreign Interference in All Democratic Processes of the European Union, Disinformation included. We know the man especially busy denouncing Russian and Chinese interference. This time, he found a visibly more consistent job: dealing with Qatari interference within his own group. This mission does not only seem beneficial. It will also be time consuming…
On Pfizer:
A much more important case, that of the Pfizer contract negotiated personally and outside any procedure by Ursula von der Leyen, is for the moment encalmed in the meanderings of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, while the European Court of Auditors has pointed it out unambiguously. On the one hand, a qatari file of a few million or tens of millions which gives rise to emergency treatment. On the other hand, a vaccination record of a few billion or tens of billions that is long overdue…
Go figure !
On the timing of Qatar-gate:
The fact remains that the backlash is merciless. Those suspected of helping Qatar are behind bars. Those who help in torso and through Ukraine, or Pfizer, on the other hand benefit from a safe conduct… It turns out that Parliament was holding its last plenary session of the year in Strasbourg today, and was to adopt a measure favorable to the entry of the Qataris into the Union. The Kaili affair is timely for preventing this vote.
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EU crime thriller starring European Parliament’s VP
New details about the EU corruption scandal and the arrest of the Greek MP Eva Kaili (44) have emerged. Together with four other people, she was put into handcuffs in connection with the World Cup in Qatar. The first details about chats and telephone calls from surveillance have become public – and they are alarming.
FREEWEST MEDIA
According to the newspaper L’Echo, investigators found bags full of cash in Kaili’s Brussels apartment. According to the public prosecutor’s office, a total of 600,000 euros in cash and mobile phones were confiscated during the searches. The Belgian judiciary will decide whether the five suspects who have been provisionally arrested will remain in prison.
With the exception of Kaili, all suspects have Italian nationality.
The Greek politician who belonged to the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), was elected as one of fourteen Vice Presidents of the European Parliament on 18 January 2022. She is a former television news presenter who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2014.
If the suspicion against the five suspects is confirmed, they face up to 15 years in prison.
Third countries try to influence the EU
According to MPs and experts, the corruption scandal could spread even further. The Christian Democrats, Social Democrats and Greens recently voted in favor of visa easing for Qatar, while the AfD opposed it (ER: those bad ‘far right’ people). Incidentally, the rapporteur was Erik Marquardt from the Greens.
The deputy chairman of the ID group in the EU Parliament, Dr. Gunnar Beck (AfD) called for complete clarification in the corruption scandal surrounding the Greek Vice President of the European Parliament: “The socialists always present themselves as moral teachers, but they are obviously susceptible to corruption.”
Luxury vacations in exchange for ‘favors’ for Qatar and other countries
In any case, the police resorted to modern methods of combating organized crime in the investigation. And so, in addition to EU Vice President Kaili, other fish have already been netted, as mentioned. The Italian police had previously arrested the wife and daughter of left-wing MEP Antonio Panzeri. Belgian investigators are quoted in Italian media as saying that Antonio Panzeri “used intelligent and often criminal methods to achieve his goals”.
Investigators focused on his wife and daughter because of their lifestyle. They had allegedly received gifts and luxury vacations worth 100,000 euros from Qatar and Morocco. Panzeri from the Article One Party, is said to have interfered politically in some agendas of the European Parliament “for a fee”, not only in favor of Qatar, but also of Morocco.
As the newspaper La Repubblica writes, the Italian left-wing party has temporarily suspended former MEP Antonio Panzeri (67).
Eva Kaili has also been temporarily excluded from her party.
‘Very serious’
Investigators searched several rooms in the EU Parliament in Brussels on Monday. According to the Belgian public prosecutor’s office, data was confiscated from the computers of a total of ten parliamentary employees. The computers have been “frozen” since Friday to prevent data needed for the investigation from disappearing.
The Commission will also check the EU Transparency Register for contacts that Commissioners had with stakeholders.
Raids also took place in Italy on Sunday, it said. According to the public prosecutor’s office, there have been 20 searches since the investigation began – 19 in offices and living quarters and one in the European Parliament itself.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the six are to appear before a court chamber on Wednesday, which is to decide whether the detention is to be maintained and how to proceed.
“The allegations against the Vice President of the European Parliament are very serious,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. (ER: She has her own corruption charges to answer for. We doubt if she has her personal liberty to use the washroom without supervision at this stage.)
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Source
Featured image source, Antonio Panzeri: Stephanie Lecocq / EPA-EFE
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