In the prisons of Haren, the father of Eva Kaili – He visits his daughter

Eva Kaili has a visit from her father, in the prisons of Haren, after the decision taken yesterday by the judicial council to keep the accused in custody for involvement in the corruption and financing scandal, Qatargate. Eva Kaili, based on yesterday’s decision, will remain detained for at least one month, since after the expiration of this period it will be decided again whether or not to extend the detention.

It is recalled that the federal prosecutor’s office rejected the lawyers’ request of Ms. Kaili to be released with an electronic bracelet and thus the Greek MEP will remain in custody for the next month – unless she appeals within 24 hours of the issuance of said decision. If he does then he will have to appear within the next 15 days before the indictment at the Brussels Court of Appeal.

However, as Ms. Kaili’s Greek lawyer told Mega, both of her lawyers decided not to appeal.

Mr. Michalis Dimitrakopoulos even emphasized that the decision was taken with political criteria and not with legal ones in order to send a strong message of “punishment” to the rest of the MEPs. He also stated that the positions of the prosecutor predicted the outcome, with him even adding that the prosecutor went so far as to state “that there is even a risk that spies will come from Qatar and kidnap Ms. Kaili”.

What she argued at her hearing

In Mrs. Kaili’s first battle before the judicial council in the heart of the Belgian capital, her Belgian lawyer of Greek origin, Mr. Andre Rizopoulos, as well as Mr. Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, who traveled to Brussels the day before yesterday, Wednesday, were present.

The hearing of the Greek MEP before the Judicial Council, which consists of three people, the investigator, the prosecutor and a judge, ended early Thursday afternoon and lasted about 1.5 hours. In the eight hours that passed until the decision was announced just before 8:00 p.m., the prosecutor suggested extending Ms. Kaili’s detention for another month, and the judge was the one who ultimately made the final decision to keep her in prison.

With regard to the reasoning behind the decision to extend pre-trial detention, it was examined whether Ms. Kaili is considered a suspect of absconding or whether she is suspected of altering the evidence of the case file in some way. However, as long as the investigation is ongoing and new persons from within the European Parliament enter the picture – although they have not been summoned by the Belgian authorities to testify – the judicial council considers it safer for Ms. Kaili to stay inside in jail for at least one more month.

Early on Thursday afternoon, the outgoing lawyers of the Greek MEP argued that Ms. Kaili is not a fugitive suspect, nor that she has the ability to destroy evidence by asking to be released from prison with a “bracelet” in order to be with her child. Later, as it became known from Mr. Dimitrakopoulos, they asked the Greek MEP not to have any electronic device at her disposal, except for a landline phone, which would be monitored by the police.

“Mrs. Kaili is innocent, she denies all accusations of bribery or corruption,” Mr. Dimitrakopoulos emphasized, while Mr. Rizopoulos underlined in his first statement to journalists that “we asked that Ms. Kaili be released with a bracelet.”

When Mr. Dimitrakopoulos was asked if he knew about the cash that the Belgian police found hidden in the apartment in which he lived with her partner, Francesco Giorgi on Wiertz Street, or about the money in the suitcase that her father was carrying, he characteristically replied that: No, never, it has not been corrupted” while adding that “the process is confidential” clarifying again that “we presented all our arguments. Ms. Kaili has never been bribed. Ms. Kaili is innocent.”

But while the side of Mrs. Kaili claims that she never had ownership or possession of the money found in Brussels, that she has never been bribed by anyone and that she had no personal agenda for Qatar, the investigator in the past days allegedly – according to reports – to note in the arrest warrant that “the accused admits that she instructed her father to hide the money”, “states that she knew, from her partner’s past, the activities with Mr. Pantseri” and that “the suitcases of cash passed from her apartment”.

Following the money… the ring’s “tentacles” reach outside Europe

The Belgian authorities insist on following the money trail and information flows one after the other. The most recent revealing reports state that 35-year-old Francesco Giorgi showed an additional three persons through whom the sums were “passed” by naming, in particular, a person whom Pantzeri referred to as an “Algerian” with whom contacts and arrangements were made.

According to what the partner of Ms. Kaili is reported to have said and published by the Italian website Il Fatto Quotidiano “he is someone who worked for the government of Qatar and his name is Bunjellal. He put me in touch with someone from Turkey. I believe he was of Palestinian origin.” “He would come to Brussels or we would go to Paris, to his apartment. When we went to get money, we said we were going to get ties or suits,” Giorgi is reported to have testified about this person.

At the same time, Belgian justice is asking Italian judges to “freeze” two bank accounts of Antonio Panzeri and his daughter, Silvia, as they may have deposited money paid for bribes, reports La Repubblica. Pancheri’s NGO Fight Impunity continues to play a central role in the transfer of this money in the name of “human rights”, reports Corriere della Sera, while already in Italy investigations are being carried out, for days now, into seven “suspicious” accounts of Panzeri, his daughter, Francesco Giorgi and also the trade unionist Luca Vizentini.

Meanwhile, according to the Italian website Il Fatto Quotidiano, pro-Mauritania activity is emerging, for which the 35-year-old former parliamentary assistant Giorgi would be paid a fictitious rent for his apartment of 1,500 euros per month plus 300 for expenses, while Pancheri would collect 25,000 euros in cash. At the same time, one more is added to this endless tangle of leaks, but this time from Ms. Kaili’s side.

As the Italian website in question reports, the Greek MEP allegedly revealed the names of two more MEPs. They are Brando Benifay, 36, and Alessandra Moretti, 49. In the frame he also allegedly placed the Belgian successor Panzeri in the European Parliament’s subcommittee on Human Rights, Maria Arena (something Giorgi allegedly has not done so far) as well as the active Belgian MEP, Mark Tarabella and the Italian MEP Andrea Cozzolino whom her partner had also named. As far as Tarabella is concerned, we remind you that his apartment was raided in the presence of the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metzola, while for the moment Andrea Cozzolino remains outside the judicial investigation.

In Greece, the investigation into the case is progressing normally and the Anti-Money Laundering Authority, headed by the honorary deputy prosecutor of the Supreme Court, Charalambos Vourliotis, has decided to seize the seven-acre plot of land in Paros, which was bought by Eva Kaili and her partner , Francesco Giorgi. Also, a joint account of the two was frozen, through which the money for the purchase of the property in question was transferred. However, through her Greek lawyer Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, the MEP stated a few days ago that the purchase of the property in Paros was legal in all respects and the money for it is justified by her fees and income.

At this moment, the Plenary of the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, has already decided – since last week – to suspend the duties of Mrs. Kaili from the position of vice-president of the House, while the European Union has “frozen” any work related to the legislative files concerning Qatar which denies any involvement in contrast to Morocco which is still silent on the accusations against its ambassador in Warsaw, Abderrahim Atmoun.

The Qatargate scandal erupted while all the spotlight was on Qatar hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup. It was Friday, December 9, when Belgian police carried out at least 20 raids in Belgium and Italy on suspicion of financing European officials.

At least 1.5 million euros were found in houses but also in a suitcase in a central Brussels hotel. 150,000 euros were confiscated from the shared apartment of Kaili – George and an additional 750,000 in a suitcase that was in the possession of her father, Alexandros. In the same suitcase, a tablet, a bottle and baby milk were also found, while another 600,000 euros were found in the residence of Pierre Antonio Panzeri in Belgium and an additional 17,000 euros in another of his residences, outside Milan, in Italy.

Mobile phones and computers have also been seized. Eva Caili’s partner, Francesco Giorgi, and the alleged ringleader, Pier Antonio Panzeri, remain in custody. As for Nikolos Figa Talamanka, director general of the NGO “No Peace Without Justice”, he is also in pre-trial detention as the prosecutor appealed the initial decision to release him with a wristband.

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