Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Qatargate suspect Eva Kaili set for release to house arrest

Qatargate suspect Eva Kaili set for release to house arrest

The European Parliament corruption probe ensnared the celebrity Greek politician, who has been detained since December.

Eva Kaili, one of the main suspects in a cash-for-influence corruption probe at the European Parliament, is moving from jail to house arrest pending a trial, Belgian authorities announced Wednesday.

Kaili, a Greek celebrity politician, was among the first to be arrested last December, when authorities revealed a sprawling investigation into whether foreign countries, including Qatar and Morocco, were bribing EU lawmakers.

The so-called Qatargate probe also ensnared Kaili’s partner, Francesco Giorgi, and several other current and former EU lawmakers, including former Italian EU lawmaker Pier Antonio Panzeri — the alleged ringleader of a bribery network who struck a plea deal with Belgian investigators in January.

Since then, all the detained suspects have been released with an electronic monitoring tag, leaving Kaili as the only one in jail. She has maintained her innocence throughout the process.

After Wednesday’s decision, Kaili will soon join her fellow suspects with an electronic tag under house arrest, leaving Haren prison, in the north of Brussels. The transfer process normally takes several days.

Once out, she will head back to her apartment mere steps from the European Parliament — the institution she stands accused of helping corrupt.

“I can confirm to you that Mrs. Eva Kaili can go home because she was put under electronic monitoring by investigative judge Claise,” said Sven Mary, Kaili’s lawyer, referencing the Belgian judge leading the probe, Michel Claise. “At the moment, I don’t want to give any further comment besides that this decision seems only logical to me.”

Giorgi, Kaili’s partner, is also out of jail under house arrest but is not living in Kaili’s apartment, according to two people familiar with the arrangement.

Kaili’s release starts a new chapter in the authorities’ monthslong attempt to sort out who may have been under the sway of foreign governments while working in Parliament. But it doesn’t mean that the process is moving toward a trial any time soon, said Christian De Valkeneer, a professor of criminal law at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium.

“It doesn’t presume that the investigation is finished,” he said. In Belgium, De Valkeneer added, being released under electronic surveillance is considered an “extension of the arrest warrant, but with the only difference that the warrant is not executed in a prison.”

Still, the authorities will soon no longer have anyone in jail, raising questions about where the investigation stands.

For months, the prosecutors’ net only widened, as police arrested two more EU lawmakers, Belgian Marc Tarabella and Italian Andrea Cozzolino, as well as an accountant in Italy, Monica Bellini.

Italian MEP Andrea Cozzolino belongs to the S&D group


But the action has slowed in recent weeks, with no more arrests and the gradual release of suspects to house arrest. Cozzolino and Bellini are also both still in Italy, where local judges have been asking Belgium for more information before making a decision on an extradition request.

Throughout it all, Kaili’s detention has become the subject of heated debate about confinement conditions in the Belgian prison system.

Kaili’s lawyers have kept up a steady drumbeat protesting her detention, even likening her situation to “torture” at one point. They stressed that Kaili had a 2-year-old child at home, and argued the two should be together. Italian European Parliament members also wrote a letter in February denouncing Kaili’s treatment.

Similarly, in Italy, lawyers for the two local suspects, Cozzolino and Bellini, argued it would be inhumane to transfer their clients to Belgium’s jail cells. Essentially, they alleged, Belgian prosecutors wanted to put people in jail until they flip.

Belgian authorities have mostly avoided responding publicly to the allegations about detention conditions.

Deborah Bergamini, an Italian parliament member, recently became the first politician to visit Kaili in jail. In a recent interview, the Italian lawmaker recalled Kaili’s dark description of her early days in jail.

“For the first six weeks, she was in a state of deep desperation and had suicidal thoughts,” Bergamini told POLITICO several days after her visit on March 31. “But after the first six weeks this changed. For the first sixteen hours, there was no running water, she couldn’t wash herself and couldn’t keep warm.”

Kaili, Bergamini said, felt she was being held in jail “as a trophy.” Several times, Bergamini added, Kaili reiterated the refrain: “I am subject to a political prosecution.”

On Wednesday afternoon, Kaili’s team started quickly spinning her move to house arrest as a step forward in the fight to clear her name.

“Eva Kaili comes out of prison with her head high and with dignity, she has not confessed to crimes she has not committed,” said the lawmaker’s Greek lawyer, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos. “She will fight for her innocence until the end.”

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK Drought Cuts Harvests and Raises Food-Security Fears
UFO: Pentagon Releases Video of Unidentified Object Tracked Over Middle East
Ukraine Tells Senate Republicans Its Drone War Offers a Blueprint for America
Weight-Loss Drug Boom Tests the Limits of Prescription Advertising Rules
Senate Scrutinises AI-Driven Personalised Pricing
Spain Seeks Mainland Transfers for 1,100 Children Stranded in Ceuta
Spain and Morocco Trade Blame After 72,000 Migrants Enter Ceuta
AI Is Remaking the US Economy, From GDP Growth to iPhone Prices
Europe’s Heat and Drought Are Now Disrupting Power, Shipping and Tourism
Europe’s Drying Rivers Trigger Power Cuts, Factory Shutdowns and Wildfire Emergencies
Record-Low Danube Forces Nuclear Cuts and Emergency Power Curbs
Danube Drought Forces Hungary’s Paks Nuclear Plant Into Full Shutdown
Ceuta Death Toll Rises as Spain and Europe Clash Over Border Response
Valued at $109 Million: F-35B Fighter Jet Crashes in Southern California
Record-Low Danube Exposes Probable Mammoth Remains in Bulgaria
US Says It Has Carried Out Heavy Strikes on Iran After Attempted Attacks on Its Forces
The AI User Nightmare: Private Claude Conversations Leaked to the Internet
Over 24 Hours in the Air: Qantas Airbus Completes Record-Breaking Test Flight
Massive Wildfires Ravage Southern Europe: Fatalities in Greece and Evacuations Across France, Spain, and Turkey
Nvidia Reportedly Takes Vast Texas Data-Centre Lease to Underwrite AI Expansion
FIFA’s Private-Investment Plan for World Cup Rights Draws European Revolt
Apple Briefly Crosses Five Trillion Dollar Valuation as Investors Retreat From AI Bets
Fresh Heatwave Threatens to Rekindle France’s Historic Wildfire Crisis
Following OpenAI's Cyberattack: 'Most Companies Still Do Not Understand What Is Coming'
OpenAI Sued After ChatGPT Allegedly Discouraged Emergency Care Before Near-Fatal Embolism
Miliband Sets Climate and International Law at Centre of UK Diplomacy
Czech Central Bank Governor Rejects Early Euro Entry and Rate-Cut Pressure
Trump Readies New Tariffs as Temporary Global Levy Nears Expiry
Vivienne Westwood Casts Cicciolina, 74, in Its New Autumn Campaign
Dejavu: Germany’s Military Expansion Reshapes Europe’s Strategic Balance With France
Morgan Stanley Builds a Wall Street Lead in AI Infrastructure Finance
High Prices Push Coffee Drinkers Toward Whole Beans and Home Brewing
Trump Draws Boos and Podium Scrutiny at Spain’s World Cup Triumph
Brilliant move: Péter Magyar Moves to Nominate Chess Grandmaster Judit Polgár as Hungary’s President
Spain Defeats Argentina in Extra Time to Win Second World Cup
Current AI Seeks to Build an Open Global AI Infrastructure Outside Big Tech Control
Germany’s Economic Malaise Reopens the Sunday Shopping Debate
Proposed U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Pact Could Permit Limited Uranium Enrichment Under International Safeguards
Netherlands Declares Water Shortage Emergency After Drought Pushes Rivers to Historic Lows
Why Kentucky Fried Chicken Became KFC—and Why the False Explanations Persist
Ukrainian Drones Strike Wildberries Warehouses Deep Inside Russia
Reported CIA Mission Helped Clear the UAE’s Path to Advanced US AI Chips
Artificial Intelligence Capital Fuels Markets While Governments and Regulators Face Mounting Strategic Tests
China’s Moonshot’s Kimi K3 Narrows the Gap With Anthropic Through Scale, Openness and Lower Cost
The Ledger Will Not Trust on Faith
Trump Administration Pressures Banks to Restrict Financial Access for Undocumented Immigrants
Passenger Bound for Germany Refused to Sit Beside a Woman on a Plane — Then Slapped a Flight Attendant
Ukraine’s Leadership Rift Spills Into the Streets as Protesters Target Army Chief
Ukrainian Drone Barrage Kills Eight and Strikes Russian Logistics Network
The Ten World Cup Finals That Defined Football History
×