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MEP Eva Kaili
Photo: ERIC VIDAL / AFP
MEP Eva Kaili, arrested on corruption charges, has been suspended as Vice President of the European Parliament.
Parliament President Roberta Metsola revoked the 44-year-old “all powers, duties and tasks” as her deputy with immediate effect, as a spokeswoman for Metsola announced in the evening.
Kaili and four other suspects were arrested in Brussels on Friday as part of investigations into a corruption scandal in the European Parliament.
A corruption affair in connection with the World Cup host country Qatar has shaken the European Parliament – and calls for political consequences to be heard.
The Belgian police arrested the Vice President of the European Parliament, Eva Kaili, and four other people on suspicion of “gang corruption and money laundering”.
The scandal revolves around the suspicion that Qatar tried to influence the decisions of the European Parliament with considerable sums of money and gifts.
There were a total of five arrests in Brussels on Friday;
the Greek Kaili, one of the 14 Vice Presidents of the European Parliament, was arrested in her apartment.
According to a report in the newspaper L'Echo, she and her father were caught "in flagranti".
The father was caught with a "suitcase full of banknotes" when he tried to flee.
During a search of the politician's private home, "several other bags filled with banknotes" were found.
Parliamentary immunity does not protect if there is an urgent suspicion of a crime and there is a risk of collusion.
A magistrate must decide within two days whether she remains in custody.
Kaili's Pasok party expelled her on Friday, and her membership in the faction has been suspended ever since.
Four Italians were also arrested, including Kaili's partner Francesco Giorgi, who is a parliamentary assistant for the Socialist Group in the European Parliament.
Sacks of banknotes
EU Vice President Katarina Barley (SPD) had previously asked Kaili to resign.
"Public prosecutor's investigations are always the point where you say, as a politician, you can no longer represent an institution," said Barley in the evening on ARD.
"In this respect, we expect her to resign of her own accord." Barley and Kaili both belong to the Social Democratic group in the European Parliament.
Pier Antonio Panzeri, former Social Democrat MEP and current head of the non-governmental organization Fight Impunity, and the General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Luca Visentini, were also arrested.
Two other arrests were also confirmed to the AFP news agency in Rome by circles in the Italian government: Panzeris' wife and daughter are affected.
According to the Belgian federal prosecutor's office, the police confiscated cash amounting to around 600,000 euros as well as data carriers and mobile phones during the raids, which are now being evaluated.
According to a spokesman for the investigative authority in Brussels, the five suspects were further questioned.
German MEPs outraged
The public prosecutor's office said that the country involved in the corruption case was a "Gulf State".
He is suspected of "influencing the economic and political decisions of the European Parliament" by "paying considerable sums of money or giving away substantial gifts".
Circles familiar with the investigation confirmed AFP media reports that the Gulf state was Qatar.
A Qatari government official told AFP that his country was "not aware of any details of an investigation."
Any "allegation of wrongdoing by the State of Qatar" is unfounded.
German MEPs expressed their outrage at the events.
He was "stunned that apparently leading members of the European Parliament let themselves be bought for large sums of money in order to campaign politically for states that trample on human and occupational safety rights," said CDU MEP Dennis Radtke.
Kaili's own party had also called on Kaili to withdraw from the European Parliament.
A member of the Greek Socialist Party said the party was "pressuring Ms Kaili to give up her parliamentary seat".
The 44-year-old had already been expelled from the party on Friday.
Kailis called Qatar a "leader on labor rights"
Former TV presenter Kaili said in the European Parliament on November 22 that the soccer World Cup in Qatar was "concrete proof of how sports diplomacy can lead to a historic transformation of a country whose reforms have inspired the Arab world".
Qatar is "a leader in labor rights."
Shortly before the speech, Kaili met with Qatari Labor Minister Ali bin Samikh Al Marri in Qatar.
In a video message, she described the World Cup as a “great instrument for political changes and reforms”.
czl/AFP