The Belgian federal prosecutor's office opposed this Thursday, January 19 to the release of the Greek MEP Eva Kaili, imprisoned for six weeks in the context of the alleged corruption scandal in the European Parliament involving in particular Qatar, announced her lawyers.
Before the Brussels council chamber, which sat behind closed doors, the lawyers of the elected socialist asked for alternative measures to pre-trial detention "
such as the electronic bracelet
", said one of them, André Risopoulos , at the end of the hearing.
“All the risks exist”
But the prosecution's position was "
strongly negative
", added the lawyer.
“
The Federal Prosecutor's Office believes that all the risks exist;
the risk of leaks, the risk of collusion with third parties and the risk of destruction of evidence
,” continued Me Risopoulos.
The chamber of the council, the jurisdiction of control of the instruction and the pre-trial detention, was to render its decision at the end of the day.
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Eva Kaili, 44, stripped of her duties as Vice-President of the European Parliament in mid-December, is one of the four people imprisoned in this scandal called “
Qatargate
” but in which Morocco is also cited.
She is suspected of having collected large sums of cash from foreign powers to influence statements and positions in the European Parliament in favor of these countries.
A difficult detention
Eva Kaili denies any corruption, her lawyers repeated on Thursday, who accuse Belgian justice of making her "
pay the highest price
" by keeping him in detention "
in difficult conditions
".
His Greek lawyer Michalis Dimitrakopoulos denounced "
torture
" about a recent "
solitary confinement for sixteen hours in a police cell
" during a hearing.
According to Me Risopoulos, the imprisoned Greek elected official was only able to see “
twice in six weeks her 23-month-old child
” whom she had with her companion Francesco Giorgi.
This Italian parliamentary assistant is also imprisoned in this affair, just like Pier Antonio Panzeri, a former socialist MEP who is a central figure and agreed on Tuesday January 17 to collaborate with justice in exchange for a limited prison sentence.
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"
Mr. Panzeri is buying himself a future, that's very good
," joked Mr. Risopoulos to the press.
The lawyer considered that the former Italian elected official who became an NGO leader in Brussels was mainly seeking to protect his family, with this “
repentant
” status allowed by Belgian law.
The wife and daughter of Pier Antonio Panzeri, who reside in Italy, are the target of a European arrest warrant in the investigation by judge Michel Claise.
But they contest before the Italian courts their handing over to Belgium.
