MEPs gathered in Brussels voted by a show of hands and gave the green light to the lifting of immunity of Belgian Marc Tarabella and Italian Andrea Cozzolino as part of an investigation into corruption within Parliament involving Qatar.
Suspected of having received bribes to promote the interests of Qatar and Morocco in the European Parliament, the Belgian Marc Tarabella and the Italian Andrea Cozzolino, temporarily excluded from the Socialists & Democrats (S&D) group, deny any embezzlement .
Marc Tarabella, present in the hemicycle, voted for the lifting of his own immunity.
” I want justice to do its job »
The two elected officials will therefore be able to be heard by the Belgian courts. ” It is to justice that I will deliver information on the questions that (the investigators) will want to ask me. I want justice to do its job “said the Belgian MEP on leaving. Eric Van Duyse, spokesperson for the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office, estimated for his part that from now on ” everything will be possible, […] this does not necessarily mean that there will be coercive measures, but justice gives itself all the means to be able to work as for any litigant “.
The parliamentary report on the lifting of their immunity, written by French MEP Manon Aubry (LFI), mentions ” cash rewards » via the testimony of the Italian Pier Antonio Panzeri, a former socialist MEP turned NGO leader, who stated in December that he had paid ” between 120,000 and 140,000 euros », in several times, to Marc Tarabella for his help in the files related to Qatar.
Agreement with the court
Pier Antonio Panzeri, charged and remanded in custody like three other suspects, reached an agreement with the courts in January. He undertakes to provide information on the system of corruption in which he admits to having participated, in exchange for a prison sentence limited to one year.
(With AFP)
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