Qatargate: Explanation time for Eva Kaili – At 10:00 her apology

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All eyes are on her apology, which is expected to begin at 10 am, Greek time. Within the day we are expected to know whether she will continue to remain in custody or not

By Athena Papakosta

Eva Kaili will be transferred today from Arenes prisons located 7.5 kilometers outside Brussels to the judicial council in the center of the Belgian capital facing a heavy indictment for her alleged involvement in the major financing scandal of European officials. All eyes are on her apology, which is expected to begin at 10 am, Greek time. Within the day we are expected to know whether she will continue to remain in custody or not.

Yesterday, Wednesday, her Greek lawyer, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, went to Brussels where, together with her Belgian defense lawyer of Greek origin, Andre Rizopoulos, they prepared the Greek MEP for hours.

“She is troubled. She feels betrayed by her partner,” said Mr. Dimitrakopoulos after about four hours of meeting with Ms. Kaili. For his part, Mr. Rizopoulos has made it clear that he will be appointed when the process comes to an end.

The goal of Ms. Kaili’s defense attorneys is to get her out of pretrial detention until the trial. We remind you that Ms. Kaili is accused of bribery, laundering “dirty” money and participation in a criminal organization. In the worst case scenario, the former Greek vice-president of the European Parliament can be sentenced cumulatively to 15 years in prison.

Her apology this morning is awaited with great interest. She herself will use the argument that she is the mother of a two-year-old child whose both parents are in prison and according to the latest information and according to what her Greek lawyer, Mr. Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, shared with the journalists, the defense her line will be based on the fact that she is innocent, that she did not know about her partner’s activities, nor about the relationship he had with Pier Antonio Pancheri, and that she always acted in the European interest based on her powers in the European Parliament. At this point, experts note, it will be of particular interest to see what evidence the Belgian judicial authorities have at their disposal.

“She is very worried,” said Michalis Dimitrakopoulos to add “when you have an orphaned child you are actually more unhappy. Kaylee is not a fugitive suspect, nor can she destroy evidence. With purely legal criteria, I have optimism.”

At the same time, it seems that the “brain” of the spiral, the former Italian MEP of the “S&D”, Pier Antonio Panzeri started to speak after days of silence.

The former MEP and trade unionist from Bergamo admitted, in part, some of the charges brought against him by the Belgian authorities, and claimed, according to the Italian La Repubblica, that the reward was 50,000 euros, admitting that it was financed. Meanwhile, he “gave” not one, not two, but three names in order to get favorable treatment from the authorities.

The first name is that of Andrea Cozzolino, the current head of Francesco Giorgi, who currently remains outside the judicial investigation. A second name is that of the Belgian MEP in office, Marc Tarabella, whose home was raided on December 10 but no evidence of his arrest emerged. A third name is that of Maria Arena, his successor in the European Parliament’s sub-committee on Human Rights whom he even allegedly said visited Qatar and received gifts from Doha. Finally, he placed his friend of 12 years, Abderrahim Atmoun, in the frame, highlighting to a large extent the central role of the current Moroccan ambassador in Warsaw as an intermediate player between the secret services of Rabat and the Italians involved in the scandal.

Eva Kaili hopes last night was her last in Aren’s prisons. However, the judicial authorities have already decided on the pre-trial detention of her other three co-accused. Her partner, Francesco Giorgi, and the accused mastermind of the criminal organization, Pier Antonio Panzeri, have been in custody for a week, while Niccolò Finca Talamanca has also been remanded in custody, as the prosecutor appealed the initial decision to release him on a wristband.

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