Qatarand Arab state rich in gas and oil but poor in respect of human rightsit did not have an easy time getting to host the 2022 Soccer World Cup. Credentials such as the lack of political freedoms and the constant violation of human rights -women, minorities and workers who have died in the construction of the stadiums of the great sports festival- were not the best letter of introduction to the first world democracies. Once the sporting objective has been achieved, the Qatari country has not stopped working to carve out, with the help of a checkbook, sympathy and acceptance in the community capital. Several keys help to understand how the European Parliament also has its particular ‘Qatargate’, with the arrest for corruption of Eva Kaili, vice-president of the European Parliament.
Tentacles in the European Parliament
Los tentacles from Qatar They have also managed to break through in the European Parliament. The implication of the Vice President of the European Parliament and Greek MEP, Eva Kailiin the bribery scheme orchestrated by the Qatari country has meant the biggest corruption scandal in the history of the European institution. The prosecution has indications that “large sums of money were paid or significant gifts were offered to third parties with a political and strategic position in the European Parliament to influence their decisions.” Kaili, arrested, has been expelled from the group of Social Democrats and has been suspended from all its functions since the investigation was made public.
Who are the detainees
The major implicated in the scandal is Eva Kailli a 44-year-old Greek Social Democrat MEPformer television presenter and member of the Chamber since 2014. Since the beginning of the year he held one of the 14 vice presidencies of European Parliament and, in addition to other responsibilities, he is a substitute member of the delegation for relations with the Arabian Peninsula. Kaili has not been able to benefit from the parliamentary immunity by which she is protected since she cannot be invoked in case of “in flagrante delicto” since she was arrested on Friday with “bags of money”, according to Agence France Press. He is also detained companion from Search, Francesco Giorgiwhich in turn is parliamentary assistant and adviser to the NGO Fight Impunity, an association dedicated to fighting impunity for human rights violations and whose headquarters were also searched. The third detainee is president of this NGO, also Italian, Pier Antonio Peranzi, who was an MEP between 2004 and 2029 and a member of the Social Democratic group. The last detainee would be, according to the Italian agency Ansa, Niccolò Figà-Talamanca, the head of the aforementioned oenegé in Brussels. They were also questioned last Friday on padre de Kaili and the President of the International Trade Union Confederation, Luca Visentini. Both were released, reports silvia martinez.
In the year 2013, the French magazine ‘France Football’ published an investigative report on irregularities committed by the International Football Federation (FIFA) in the award, in 2010, of the Qatar’s bid for the organization of the Soccer World Cup 2022. The journalistic investigation abounded in how the Qataris paid bribes to obtain votes in favor of the Qatari candidacy. In this context, the Former French President Nicolas Sarkozywould have personally supervised a corrupt deal for the benefit of Qatar in a secret meeting at the Elysée Palace, on November 23, 2010, with the Crown Prince of Qatar Tamin bin Hammad al-Thani, Michel Platini, then president of UEFA and Sebastián Bazin, owner of Paris Saint-Germain. At the meeting, according to the investigation, it was agreed that Platini would vote in favor of Qatar and, in exchange, the Arab country would help overcome the serious financial crisis suffered by PSG. It is an example of the ‘modus operandi’ with which Qatar has been gaining favor with sports and political elites for years.