Greek vice-president of the European Parliament, Eva Kayli, was jailed on Sunday in Brussels on charges of “corruption” in an investigation by a Belgian judge into the large sums Qatar may have paid to influence decisions within this important European institution.
A judicial source confirmed to Agence France-Presse that Kylie, 44, and three other people were detained by a judge in Brussels, two days after their arrest, as part of an investigation aimed at the country’s actions organizing the 2022 World Cup.
The judicial source explained that Kylie was not able to benefit from her parliamentary immunity because she was arrested “in flagrante delicto”.
The source confirmed press reports that Kylie was in possession of “bags full of banknotes” on Friday night when they were stopped by Belgian police.
The prosecutor also confirmed the search of the home of Kylie, who was a broadcaster of Greek television, on Friday, as well as the home of another MEP, Belgian Mark Tarabella, on Saturday evening.
And the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, returned from Malta to Brussels to support the federal police in the search of Tarabella’s house, according to her spokesperson.
He explained that the presence of the president is necessary in such an investigation, which targets a member of the European Parliament elected in Belgium “as required by the Belgian constitution”.
On Sunday, the federal prosecutor’s office did not name names when it announced the pre-trial detention of four of the six people arrested in the last 48 hours on charges of “membership of a criminal organization, money laundering and corruption”. The judge released the other two people.
The six people were arrested on Friday in Brussels after at least 16 body searches, including former Italian Socialist MEP Pierre Antonio Panziri and the new secretary general of the International Confederation of Trade Unions Luca Vezentini, also Italian.
And the Belgian press reported that the investigation extended to Kylie’s father, as he was caught carrying a large amount of cash “in a bag”.
It is suspected that “large sums of money or large gifts have been paid to people who hold political and/or strategic positions within the European Parliament which allow them to influence its decisions”, as reiterated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office on Sunday.
The case exploded in the middle of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, while the host country is engaging due to criticism in the field of human rights, especially of workers.
The case also came on the eve of a plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, where relations between the European Union and Qatar will be discussed, among other things.
Eva Kayley visited Qatar in early November, where she praised the reforms implemented by the emirate in the field of working conditions in the presence of Qatar’s Labor Minister Ali bin Samikh Al-Marri.
And as reported by “Agence France Presse”, the European representative affirmed on November 22 from the rostrum of the European Parliament that “Qatar is a leading country in the field of workers’ rights”.
This statement caused controversy between the left and the liberals, and came back to the minds of many members of the European Parliament after the announcement of his arrest.
French MEP Pierre Karliskind said on Twitter on Saturday: “I’m afraid I understand now…”.
European Parliament president Roberta Metsola has convened a meeting of group leaders in Strasbourg to discuss the Belgian judicial investigation, two parliamentary sources told AFP on Sunday.
Members of the European Parliament of the Greens and the social democratic bloc oppose the start of negotiations on increasing entry visas for Qataris to the European Union.
And Mitsola announced on Saturday that he had temporarily stripped his Greek deputy, Eva Kaili, of her duties, including her representation in the Middle East.
Left-wing MEPs, including Philip Lamberts, who spoke on behalf of the green bloc, have called for the resignation of Kylie, whose resignation was announced on Friday evening by the Greek Socialist Party (Pasok Kinal).
