Qatargate: Cotsolinos waived his parliamentary immunity – He declares his innocence

The Italian center-left MEP Andrea Coccolinospeaking to the European Parliament’s judicial affairs committee today, waived his parliamentary immunity and said he bears no criminal responsibility in relation to the scandal Qatargate.

Coccolino added that the charges against him are “very general” and maintained that he was never bribed with any amount of money.

“I am completely unaware of the activities of Messrs. Giorgi and Panzeri,” the MEP said, according to the Italian press.

Coccolino finally underlined that the e-mail sent by his aide, Francesco Giorgi, before a crucial vote on Qatar, had not received his approval and that “on the contrary, he himself voted in favor of amendments which stigmatized the all Qatari politics”.

On January 31, the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee will vote to lift the immunity of MEPs Andrea Coccolino and Mark Tarabella, according to press reports.

Pancheri’s daughter’s lawyers are appealing against her extradition to Belgium

At the same time, the lawyers of Antonio Panzeri’s daughter, Silvia Panzeri, appealed to the Supreme Court of Rome against the decision to extradite their client to Belgium, which was taken by the Brescia Court of Appeal.

A similar appeal has been filed against the decision to extradite Pancheri’s wife, Maria Dolores Colleoni. These two cases are expected to be considered by the Supreme Court of Italy on January 31.

According to the judges of Brescia, however, the conditions of detention in the Belgian prisons do not violate human rights, which was disputed by the lawyers of Silvia Pantzeri and her mother.

Pancheri is testifying today in a secret location

To the alleged mastermind of the scandal Qatargate Antonio Pancheri, the interest of the case turns today as today it is expected to file to the Belgian authorities for what he knows.

The developments are expected to be stormy, as the Italian former MEP has made a plea deal with the federal prosecutor of Belgium, in order to receive a favorable treatment.

The Italian former MEP Antonio Panzeri will testify to the Belgian authorities, in a secret location, while he has pledged to reveal everything he knows about the financial transactions, including the names of the European Parliament who were bribed.

Pancheri’s advocates, Mr. Laurent Kens and Mark Wittendel in an interview with the Belgian newspaper L’Echo stated that both the federal judge and the police will be able to have complete confidence in Antonio Panzeri with Laurent Kens characteristically declaring that “the ball is in his court. He is fully informed by the authorities. We have advised him about it and he knows the issues,” while Mark Wittel added that he “guarantees that he will tell the whole truth.”

Pancheri’s lawyers said they were confident he would tell the truth as he “no longer has any interest in lying”. They added, however, that the agreement made “does not imply that he gives names, or how many names, or the extent of the revelations… He is completely free to express himself as long as he tells the truth.”

As for why Antonio Panzeri mentioned Mark Tarabella’s name before the magistrates and the sums he had paid him, Mr Kens said: “We can’t get to the heart of the matter. He will tell the investigators, not the press. All he wanted to express publicly is about Marie Arena not being prosecuted for the case.”
“Mr. Pancheri blames himself because they had a (friendly) relationship on a political level and on a friendly level. She had tears in her eyes. He blames himself because there are political consequences for this girlfriend who confided in him. He also blames himself for his wife and daughter, he blames himself for his loved ones,” he added.

Regarding when this “repentant” status could be recognized, Mr. Kens noted that “Mr. Pantcheri needs to speak and show confidence in the investigators and the authorities realize that he is saying things that correspond to the truth. On the face of it, the council should decide on this memorandum in about a year.”

Also, on Thursday before the Belgian authorities will be the partner of Eva Kaili, Francesco Giorgi, who is expected to insist on his statement, that the former vice-president of the European Parliament, had not the slightest involvement in the case.

Meanwhile, Spiegel magazine calls the Qatargate revelations the tip of the iceberg and, after studying 1,300 internal documents, points out that Pancheri’s organization has been able to operate unmolested, taking kickbacks from Qatar, Morocco, Mauritania and perhaps Saudi Arabia.
At the same time, Politico writes that Eva Kaili’s sister, Madalena, is trying to delete her Non-Governmental Organization from the transparency register of the European Union

RES-EMP

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