A second member of the European Parliament has been charged with corruption and another arrested as Belgian prosecutors continue their investigation into the “Qatargate” scandal.
Marc Tarabella, a Belgian socialist, was arrested on Saturday after being charged with corruption, money laundering and participation in a criminal organization. He was arrested on Friday, just eight days after parliament lifted his immunity from prosecution.
He denied the allegations.
Andrea Cozzolino, an Italian socialist, was arrested in a Naples hospital on Friday night, according to his lawyer. Belgium’s federal prosecutor’s office confirmed the arrest and said it had requested his transfer to Belgium.
Belgian authorities claim that they and others took bribes to shape EU policy from Qatar and Morocco.
Cozzolino’s lawyer, Dimitri De Beco, said his client was undergoing treatment for heart problems. “Our client opposed the transfer to Belgium. We immediately searched and released him. The Naples appeals court confirmed today that there is no reason to deprive our client of his liberty in these circumstances,” he said.
He added that his client “has returned home, where he will continue to assert his rights against these unjust accusations”.
Belgian prosecutors said they could not confirm Cozzolino’s release but still asked him to return to Brussels.
Tarabella is the sixth person to be charged with the same three offences.
Eva Kaili, a Greek socialist MEP who is the parliament’s vice-president, remains in custody. So are Pier Antonio Panzeri, a former MEP who runs a human rights charity, and Francesco Giorgi, Kaili’s former assistant and partner. Niccolò Figà-Talamanca, secretary general of another human rights group, was released on bail on February 4.
Panzeri’s accountant, Monica Rossana Bellini, was arrested in Milan last month and is awaiting extradition to Belgium.
Panzeri, believed to be the ringleader of the group, had made a deal and admitted to working in a foreign country, federal prosecutors said. Giorgi has made a partial statement, according to documents seen by the Financial Times, while Figà-Talamanca, Kaili and Bellini deny wrongdoing.
Figà-Talamanca, secretary general of No Peace Without Justice, released a statement on Saturday saying she was grateful to be released from prison and would continue her fight for human rights.
“I have worked with people who have been unjustly detained and I think I have a small taste of what they have been doing for a few years,” he said. He thanked his supporters who believed he was innocent.
Panzeri’s wife and daughter are under house arrest in Italy.
Police said they found €1.5 million in cash at Panzeri and Kaili’s home and in a suitcase belonging to Kaili’s father.
They also searched a deposit box used by Tarabella at a bank in Liège and several offices at the town hall in Anthisnes, in southern Belgium, where Tarabella is mayor, on Friday. Belgian authorities said he had been illegally paid between €120,000 and €140,000 by a third country.
Qatar’s alleged motivation is for a resolution bluntly condemning the treatment of migrant workers before the World Cup and secure visa-free travel for its citizens. The Qatari government denied the allegations.
Morocco has allegedly sought support for its claim to sovereignty over Western Sahara, and is negotiating a deal with the European Union on trade in fisheries and agricultural products. The Moroccan government denies any wrongdoing.