The Court of Appeal of Naples has ordered house arrest for MEP Andrea Cozzolino to whom the Guardia di Finanza served yesterday a European arrest warrant as part of the investigation by the Belgian federal prosecutor's office into the so-called Qatargate.
The decision was adopted by the judges of the 'Prevention Measures' section.
The hearing for the extradition of the MEP has been set for 11 am on Tuesday 14 February.
Home detention will be in the home of Vomero di Cozzolino.
"I am calm, I trust in justice".
This is the state of mind of MEP Andrea Cozzolino, since last night in prison in Poggioreale, who spoke with the lawyer Vincenzo Domenico Ferraro, on the occasion of the hearing to validate the arrest by the judges of the eighth section of the Court of Appeal of Naples.
The objections raised against MEP Cozzolino refer to the period from 1 January 2018 to 15 July 2022
, "as a member of the European Parliament, President of the Delegation for relations with the Maghreb countries since 2019 and Co-President of the Commission Euro-Moroccan Joint Parliamentarian, as well as member of the Pegasus special commission".
According to the investigators, in competition and association with Panzeri, Giorgi, Kaili, Tarabella and Arena, he allegedly "unduly received, on behalf of the Government of Morocco, probably from a certain Atomun, money to exercise his European parliamentary functions in order to
favor the interests of Morocco
in the European Parliament".
Yesterday the Gico financiers who had to notify the European arrest warrant did not find the MEP at home who "for real and effective needs" had moved to a clinic near his home.
For the Court of Appeal of Naples "the danger of fleeing, as far as it exists, can be considered of a moderate level, easily containable through the precautionary measure of house arrest, sufficient to check that the arrested person does not escape the ongoing proceedings pending the decision of the Court of Appeal regarding the request for surrender" to the Belgian investigating authority.
The judges authorized Cozzolino to leave his home (the one where he must remain under house arrest) every day from 11 to 12 and from 17 to 18 to allow him "
TARABELLA'S ARREST CONFIRMED At
the end of this morning's interrogation, the investigating judge Michel Claise confirmed the arrest of the MEP Marc Tarabella, according to sources in the prosecutor's office.
The validation hearing has been set for Thursday.
"The hearing went well. Tarabella answered all of the investigators' questions frankly and in a serene atmosphere. No new evidence was presented to corroborate the money transmission charges. The only evidence against my client is Mr Panzeri's comments. It is the word of a criminal, Panzeri, against that of a man who has been honest all his life, Tarabella. My client will continue to fight for his innocence to be recognized".
This was stated by Maxime Tioller, Marc Tarabella's lawyer.