Strasbourg The EU Parliament has dismissed Greek MEP Eva Kaili, who has been arrested on corruption charges, as Vice President. 625 MPs voted Tuesday to remove her from office. There was one vote against and two abstentions. The parliamentary group leaders had previously voted unanimously in favor of this step.
Shortly before, Kaili had announced through her lawyer that she rejected the allegations against her that she was said to have received money from Qatar. “She takes the position that she is innocent,” Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, who represents the Greek, told Open TV on Tuesday. “It has nothing to do with Qatari funding, nothing – explicitly and unequivocally. That is their position.”
He was not allowed to comment on details. He also has no picture of whether funds have been found and if so, what amounts. Kaili has “not taken any commercial action in her life”.
However, the lawyer dismissed Greek media reports that 160,000 euros had been found under Kaili’s little daughter’s cradle. There is no cradle, said Dimitrakopoulos.
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In another interview with Greek journalists, he also discussed the real estate company that Kaili is said to have founded with her partner in Athens just last month. This company has never operated, it is inactive.
With only one dissenting vote, Eva Kaili was removed from the plenary session as Vice President of the European Parliament a short time later.
(Photo: IMAGO/PanoramaC)
Court decides on Kaili’s further detention on Wednesday
Wednesday is the most important day for Eva Kaili because she has to testify before a court chamber and then a decision will be made whether to release her or continue to hold her, the lawyer said.
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Before the vote in Parliament, the group leaders in the European Parliament had unanimously voted in favor of removing Kaili as Vice President in a special session in Strasbourg. This proposal was made by the so-called Conference of Presidents, said Parliament President Roberta Metsola on Tuesday before the start of the parliamentary session.
Metsola had already addressed Parliament in an urgent speech on Monday. She spoke of anger, rage and grief at the revelations. “The European Parliament, dear colleagues, is being attacked, European democracy is being attacked, and our kind of open, free, democratic society is being attacked.”
EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola (middle) at the meeting with the group leaders to decide on the impeachment of Vice President Eva Kaili.
(Photo: dpa)
Metsola stripped former TV presenter Kaili, one of 14 vice-presidents of parliament, of all powers in this post over the weekend. She was expelled from her Greek Pasok party and the Social Democratic group in the European Parliament.
Six suspects arrested
Greek social democrat Kaili is one of six suspects arrested by Belgian authorities since Friday in the corruption scandal. Four of them were remanded in custody on Sunday, including 44-year-old Kaili herself, her boyfriend and former MEP Antonio Panzeri.
The General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, Luca Visentini, who was temporarily arrested, also denied any guilt. “I’m glad the survey is over and I was able to fully answer all the questions,” said the Italian, according to an ITUC release published on Tuesday. “Should further allegations be made I look forward to the opportunity to refute them as I have nothing to blame.” Any form of corruption is totally unacceptable.
Visentini is one of six people arrested by the Belgian judiciary since Friday. After being questioned, the 53-year-old was released on Sunday. Four other suspects were taken into custody, including Eva Kaili.
According to his own statements, he has nothing to reproach himself for.
(Photo: AP)
Visentini told Italian newspaper La Repubblica: “I got involved in this investigation because I worked with the Fight Impunity Foundation.” The foundation was set up by a former Italian MEP, Antonio Panzeri, who also was arrested. An arrest warrant has now been issued against Panzeri.
Visentini says he was “released with minimal conditions”
Visentini said he attended some of the NGO’s conferences, but then it “turned out that it was a criminal organization that was plotting bribes in the name and on behalf of the government of Qatar and, it seems, Morocco to… try to get more favorable terms from the European Parliament.” He submitted the necessary information to the judiciary and on that basis was “released with some minimal conditions”.
The suspects are accused of involvement in a criminal organization, money laundering and corruption. It is said that the Gulf Emirate of Qatar, which is currently hosting the soccer World Cup, has tried to influence political decisions in the European Parliament with extensive monetary and material gifts.
At the EU level, for example, consideration is currently being given to easing the visa rules for Qatari citizens – the procedure in Parliament has been put on hold for the time being after the allegations of bribery. Qatar denied the allegations.
Meanwhile, authorities are continuing their investigation. On Monday, the anti-money laundering authorities in Kaili’s native Greece froze all the assets of the 44-year-old, her parents, her sister and her partner. In Brussels, investigators searched premises in the EU Parliament at the beginning of the week. Data was confiscated from the computers of ten parliamentary employees.
More: Corruption scandal in Brussels – Who are the accused and what will happen next