The Belgian justice interrogates a MEP over the 'Qatargate' scandal

The Belgian judicial police have arrested this Friday the Belgian Socialist MEP Marc Tarabella for questioning in Brussels for

, the plot of alleged bribery of high-ranking figures in the European Parliament by countries such as Qatar or Morocco.

The police have again searched several of his offices and belongings in search of evidence that links him to the scandal that has deeply shaken the European institutions.

Despite the fact that the ringleader of the case, former MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, claims that he paid him up to 140,000 euros, Tarabella has always denied his involvement in

.

The European Parliament withdrew his parliamentary immunity a week ago.

The agents showed up at Tarabella's home in Anthisnes, the town about 120 kilometers from Brussels of which he is mayor, early on Friday morning and took the politician to the Belgian capital.

As reported by the Federal Prosecutor's Office, in the next few hours - the maximum period is 48 hours - it will be decided whether he appears before the investigating judge of

, Michel Claise.

This same magistrate was the one who ordered pre-trial detention in December for those principally involved in the plot: in addition to Panzeri, the former vice president of the European Parliament —and also still a member of the European Parliament— Eva Kaili and her partner and parliamentary assistant, Francesco Giorgi, accused of corruption, money laundering of money and criminal organization.

A fourth accused, Niccolo Figa-Talamanca, former leader of the NGO No Peace Without Justice —which collaborated closely with the organization created by Panzeri as an alleged front, Fight Impunity—, was released last Friday, although he remains accused of the same crimes. of the defendants who are still in prison.

While Tarabella was being questioned, the police searched a safe deposit box that he maintains in a Liège bank, as well as "some offices" of the Anthisnes City Council that he runs, the Prosecutor's Office said in a statement, without revealing whether they have obtained evidence.

It is not the first search that Tarabella has undergone: exactly two months ago, on December 10, police agents already searched his address.

It was a day after the operation to arrest the

, within the framework of which up to 1.5 million euros in cash found in suitcases and bags at the home of the main suspects were seized.

In the case of Tarabella, the police found no conclusive evidence and ended up taking only computer equipment.

Since at that time she still enjoyed parliamentary immunity, the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, had to urgently return to Brussels from Malta to attend the registry, as Belgian law dictates in the event of an operation against a deputy.

On this occasion it has not been necessary, since the plenary session of the European Parliament approved on February 2 the lifting of his immunity and that of another of the MEPs that the Belgian justice wants to question, the Italian and also a socialist Andrea Cozzolino, who also insists in her innocence.

Although Tarabella refused to explain himself to MEPs on

, he himself voted in favor of withdrawing his immunity, since he has always maintained that he wanted to explain his situation to the Belgian authorities.

According to Belgian state television, when the agents arrived at his house, he declared himself relieved.

"Finally they are going to listen to me, I have been waiting for the moment for more than two months," said the MEP, according to this version.

His family environment has declared to the Belgian media that Tarabella was "prepared" for this moment and that he is "willing to answer all the questions of justice."

Due to her closeness to Panzeri and the other defendants, Tarabella has been in the crosshairs of Belgian justice from the beginning.

According to leaks to the local press, Panzeri, who has signed a judicial agreement to reduce his sentence in exchange for giving details to justice about the entire Qatargate plot

the former MEP made several cash payments to Tarabella in exchange for him making a favorable speech regarding Qatar ahead of the World Cup held at the end of last year.

During a parliamentary hearing held in mid-November on the situation of labor rights in Qatar and the deaths of foreign workers due to harsh working conditions, Tarabella, who in previous years had been highly critical of the choice of Qatar to host the World Cup, He surprised many of his colleagues on the bench by giving a speech defending the advances of that country in terms of labor law.

Less than a month later, the Qatargate erupted that has convulsed the Brussels European family.

This same week, Metsola agreed with the political groups of the European Parliament on the first immediate measures to improve the integrity and transparency of the institution.

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