In response to a request from the Belgian judicial authorities, the European Parliament said on Monday that it had launched an urgent procedure to lift the immunity of two European deputies as part of their investigation on corruption charges following the "Qatargate" scandal. According to sources close to the file, the two deputies belong to the Social Democrats bloc in Parliament.
"In response to a request from the Belgian judicial authorities, I have launched an urgent procedure to lift the immunity of two members of Parliament. There will be no impunity whatsoever," European Parliament President Roberta Metsola revealed on Twitter Monday.
"The officials will find this parliament alongside the law. Corruption cannot produce results, and we will do everything to fight it," Mitsola added.
The matter concerns the two deputies, the Italian Andrea Cozzolino and the Belgian Marc Tarabella, who belong to the Social Democrats bloc, according to sources close to the file.
The procedure for lifting the immunity of these two deputies falls within the framework of the same case that prompted Belgian investigators to arrest the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Greek Socialist Eva Kaili, on December 9, 2022.
Among those arrested, Cayley's life partner, the Italian Francesco Georgi, who also serves as Cozzolino's parliamentary assistant, is alongside the former European Socialist deputy, the Italian Pierre-Antonio Panziri, as well as an official in a non-governmental organization, Niccolo Vega-Talamanca.
Charges of "belonging to a criminal organization", "money laundering" and "corruption" were brought against these four people, as part of a scandal that shocked the European Parliament and caused tension between Qatar and the European Union.
Kylie was unable to take advantage of her parliamentary immunity because she was caught red-handed after "bags of banknotes" were found in her apartment. She was stripped of her position as Vice-President of the European Parliament on December 13, 2022, following a near-unanimous vote of the European Parliament.
The investigation in Belgium led to twenty raids between 9 and 12 December, including the European Parliament. Mark Tarabella's house was also searched on December 10, 2022, according to a judicial source.
In total, the Belgian investigators seized 1.5 million euros in cash, according to a judicial source, the bulk of which was in the homes of Panziri and Kaylee and in a bag that Kaylie's father was also transporting.
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