BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A Belgian court on Thursday ordered the continued detention for a month of Eva Kaili as part of the investigation into suspicions of corruption in the European Parliament involving Qatar, the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office said.
Eva Kaili, who was removed from her position as vice-president of the European Parliament earlier this month after revelations about one of the most important scandals to have rocked Brussels, rejects the accusations against her and asserts via her team defense that she was innocent.
The 44-year-old Greek socialist has 24 hours to appeal this decision, the prosecution said. Her lawyer in Athens told local television that Eva Kaili did not plan to appeal.
Three other people were arrested by the Belgian authorities in connection with this affair, including Eva Kaili’s companion, the Italian Francesco Giorgi, who is a parliamentary assistant.
Reuters has learned from two people familiar with the matter that Francesco Giorgi admitted to accepting bribes from Doha in order to influence European Parliament decisions regarding Qatar.
Doha denies any wrongdoing.
(Report Charlotte Van Campenhout and Bart Meijer in Brussels, Eleftherios Papadimas and Renee Maltezou in Athens; French version Bertrand Boucey, edited by Jean Terzian)
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