Qatargate
The Belgian investigators have not violated Eva Kaili’s parliamentary immunity. This is what Roberta Metsola, the President of the European Parliament, says.
Roberta Metsola said on Monday during the plenary session of the European Parliament that the conclusion of the investigation by the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee was that Eva Kaili’s immunity was not violated by the Belgian Qatargate investigation. The Greek parliamentarian’s lawyers had claimed this in a request they sent to the European Parliament in June.
When investigators carried out house searches as part of the Qatargate investigation on December 9, 2022, they saw the father of the Greek MEP leaving her Brussels apartment in a hurry with a suitcase. When investigators later arrested him at the hotel where he was staying, the suitcase turned out to contain hundreds of thousands of euros. Money with which Qatar allegedly bribed Kaili. She herself claims that the money belonged to her husband Francesco Giorgi. The discovery of the money in the suitcase was reason enough to also conduct a search of Kaili’s home, the Belgian court found.
But according to her lawyers, that search was a violation of the immunity she is entitled to as a member of parliament. The European Parliament now thinks not. In May, the Brussels Indictment Chamber will also consider the legality of the investigation at the request of Kaili’s lawyers. The search of Eva Kaili’s home will also be the subject of discussion.(me)
