Two more EU politicians have been arrested in the corruption scandal that was uncovered in December. The two were arrested on Friday.
The arrests are confirmed by spokesperson Eric van der Sijpt in the Belgian public prosecutor’s office.
We are talking about Belgian Marc Tarabella and Italian Andrea Cozzolino, both of whom are associated with the EU Parliament’s social democratic group. Both claim to be innocent.
On Friday, the police searched a safe deposit box in the city of Liege in eastern Belgium and several offices in the town hall in Anthisnes, a few miles further south.
– All the searches are connected to the EU parliamentarian MT, stated the public prosecutor in line with Belgian practice of providing initials in such cases.
Last week, the European Parliament voted to lift the immunity of both Tarabella and Cozzolino after they were drawn into the corruption scandal uncovered in Brussels in December. This means that they can be prosecuted.
According to Politico.Eu Tarabella has already been kicked out of the Socialist Party of which he was a member.
Cozzolino was arrested in Italy on Friday.
They have been arrested in connection with the corruption scandal referred to as “Qatargate”. Those previously arrested are accused of influencing EU decisions on Qatar and Morocco in exchange for gifts and money. The authorities in the two countries deny that they have done anything wrong.
Among other things, the scandal has led to the vice-president of the EU Parliament, Greek Eva Kaili, being deposed and detained.
