Athens / Brussels (EuroEFE).- The vice president of the European Parliament Eva Kaili, charged in the money laundering and corruption scandal in the European Parliament linked to Qatar, pleads not guilty and has denied having received money from that Arab country, said Tuesday one of his lawyers, Mijalis Dimitrakópulos.
“She has nothing to do with the financing of Qatar, nothing, explicitly and unequivocally. That is her position,” Dimitrakópoulos said in statements to the Greek television network OPEN.
The lawyer added that Kaili, who is in pretrial detention in Belgium, he has not “done any commercial activity in his life.”
As for Kaili’s father, who, according to the media, was arrested while trying to escape with bags full of banknotes, the lawyer clarified that the Belgian authorities did not impose restrictive conditions on him and that “he is free if he wants to come to Greece.”
The Greek Social Democratic MEP, suspended from all duties both in Greece and in the European Parliamentis one of the four people who have been ordered pretrial detention on charges of alleged participation in a criminal organization, money laundering and corruption in relation to an Arab country.
The Greek Anti-Money Laundering Authority ordered this Monday the seizure of Kaili’s assets (real estate, bank accounts, companies) and their close relatives in the country, with the justification that it is possible that they come from illegal activities.
Kaili more than doubled his bank deposits in two years, according to his annual asset declarations which are available on the Hellenic Parliament’s website.
In his statement for the 2018 fiscal year, he claimed to have 210,000 euros to his credit and to have entered 550,000 euros; two years later, the deposits had reached 461,846 euros, despite the fact that his income had decreased to 164,000 euros.
REMOVED BY THE PLENARY OF PARLIAMENT
While, The plenary session of the European Parliament dismissed Kaili on Tuesday as vice president of this institution.
In view of the ongoing investigations,@Europarl_EN has decided that Eva Kaili is no longer one of its Vice-Presidents.
This decision is effective immediately.
We will continue to fully cooperate with relevant national law enforcement and judicial authorities.
— Roberta Metsola (@EP_President) December 13, 2022
By 625 votes in favor, 1 against and 2 abstentions, the chamber validated the initiative that the leaders of the groups formalized early this Tuesday in an extraordinary meeting after even Kaili’s own group, the Social Democrats, joined to the demand that the Greek vice president be removed from office.
Kaili, the most visible head among those accused in this case, she had already been expelled from the social democratic group this Monday and President Metsola had withdrawn from her over the past weekend the responsibilities associated with her position as vice president, including relations with the Middle East.
A Belgian judge decided on Sunday to charge her along with 3 other people -including her partner, the Italian Franceso Giorgi- for the crime of participation in a criminal organization, money laundering and corruption.
The Belgian magistrate conducted on Monday a register in the building of the European Parliament in Brussels while the European Parliament began its last plenary session of the year at its headquarters in Strasbourg.
The Social Democratic group must now begin an internal process to select Kaili’s future replacement, although party sources rule out that there is an intention to start the search immediately and do not expect a decision to be made until early 2023.
Kaili continues for the moment to maintain her status as an MEP, since it can only be withdrawn by Greece.
Edited by M. Moya and M. Burgués