Eva Kaili’s plot to blow up the Qatargate
investigation
Lawyers for the Greek MEP argue her parliamentary
immunity was violated last year.
BY ELISA
BRAUN AND EDDY WAX
SEPTEMBER
19, 2023 4:00 AM CET
https://www.politico.eu/article/eva-kaili-qatargate-investigation-european-parliament/
BRUSSELS —
Nine months in, the blockbuster cash-for-influence Qatargate legal case could
be about to collapse.
Eva Kaili,
the European Parliament’s former vice president who was arrested and charged
with corruption in December, is now launching a daring legal challenge aimed at
toppling the entire investigation, arguing the police and spy services acted
illegally when they went after her. And she can already count on Andrea
Cozzolino, another member of European Parliament who is charged in the case, to
join in the effort.
Months of
planning by Kaili’s lawyers will come to a head at 9 a.m. on Tuesday in the
Palace of Justice in Brussels, where the federal prosecutor has convened a
meeting to consider the legal challenge.
The
first-of-its-kind gathering comes a year after Belgian authorities
surreptitiously started probing whether lawmakers and officials at the European
Parliament were taking bribes in exchange for political favors for Morocco and
Qatar.
Two stars
of the Brussels bar who are defending Kaili — Sven Mary and Christophe Marchand
— allege Belgian secret service and police violated EU laws protecting their
client’s parliamentary immunity and potentially those of other suspects,
according to a review of documents and interviews conducted by POLITICO.
Kaili’s
lawyers filed a request for a “legal check of the procedure” with the federal
prosecutor’s office, which triggers an examination of those allegations by
three independent judges. In the brief, Kaili seeks to compel the court to
“invite all the parties to comment on this matter, to set a date for the
continuation of the proceedings.” It argues that the “parliamentary immunity
she enjoys has been breached and that the criminal proceedings against her
should therefore be declared inadmissible.”
The
surprise resignation in June of the lead investigating judge in charge of the
case, Michel Claise — who faced conflict-of-interest accusations — already
dealt a blow to the investigation.
As the
investigation drags on, Kaili’s push adds to a growing sense that those accused
— even if proven guilty — could be let off the hook.
Poisonous fruit
Before the
start of any legal proceedings, Kaili’s lawyers argue, Qatargate investigators
should have made a formal request to the Parliament to lift her immunity —
which did not take place.
Instead,
her parliamentary immunity was stripped away in December when Kaili was
considered to have been caught in the act of committing an offense. Belgian
police raided her Brussels apartment, arrested her and seized bags containing
around €150,000 in cash. Other individuals were also targeted and at least €1
million in total seized.
“If they
rule that the evidence was collected illegitimately, it cannot be used in
court,” said Domenico Vincenzo Ferraro, Cozzolino’s lawyer who was invited to
the meeting. He said he’d been approached, along with the lawyer for the third
current MEP charged in the case, Marc Tarabella, to rally behind Kaili’s
defense push. Ferraro confirmed that Cozzolino would join the request.
A summons —
seen by POLITICO — shows invitees include 13 current or former suspects in the
so-called Qatargate scandal, ranging from MEPs to Qatari and Moroccan diplomats
who were swept up in the case.
These
include the alleged ringleader and former MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri; and two
figures suspected of corrupting those in Brussels, Qatari Labor Minister Ali
Bin Samikh Al Marri and Moroccan diplomat Abderrahim Atmoun. Kaili’s partner
Francesco Giorgi, a former parliamentary assistant to Panzeri, is invited as
well.
Tarabella’s
lawyer Maxim Töller was not immediately available for comment when contacted by
POLITICO. Up until now, the Belgian prosecutor’s office has not responded to a
request for comment.
Defense
lawyers may make a case on the basis of the so-called “fruit of the poisonous
tree.” This legal metaphor is used to describe how evidence obtained illegally
lessens the chances of a fair trial.
However, a
legal precedent in Belgium could complicate any effort to completely annul a
criminal investigation, said Michaël Fernandez-Bertier, who is a partner at
legal consulting firm Ethics and Compliance as well as being a member of the
board of Transparency International Belgium, an anti-corruption NGO.
Under this
law, the “evidence that was irregularly collected does not systematically lead
to the annulment of the entire investigation, part of the investigation or the
irregular act: it depends on the seriousness of such irregularity.”
But due to
the slow-moving machinery of the Belgian legal system, it could take several
months for magistrates to make up their minds about the defense lawyers’
claims.
Regardless
of whether Kaili and other MEPs prevail or fail in their efforts to jettison
the case against them, those accused of corrupting the politicians — diplomats
— pose an even greater challenge to the prosecution.
Al Marri
and Atmoun, respectively from Qatar and Morocco, have never faced Belgian law
enforcement officers. Because they acted in their official function and thus
enjoy full diplomatic immunity, it is highly unlikely they will ever appear in
court.
But since
suspects Panzeri and Giorgi have already confessed that they took part in a
corruption scheme and involved several other suspects, they could not claim any
breach of immunity.
Gregorio
Sorgi and Camille Gijs contributed reporting.
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