The police carried out sixteen house searches in Brussels on Friday morning, confirms the Belgian public prosecutor (OM). Four people were detained for questioning. According to Skills in The evening they are Italians from the Social Democratic group in the European Parliament. Among others, union leader Luca Visentini and former MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri were reportedly arrested.
“Third parties with an important political and/or strategic position in the European Parliament” have received “large sums of money” and “significant gifts,” the prosecutor said. The intention was to “try to influence the economic and political decisions of the parliament”.
The OM does not want to confirm that Qatar is the culprit, but keeps it on “a Gulf state”. Belgian media reports on the basis of insiders that it is the host country of the football World Cup. The investigation has been going on for “several months”, the judiciary said. It focuses on “criminal organization, corruption and money laundering”.
During the house searches, the carabinieri seized computers, telephones and around 600,000 euros in cash. According to Skills in The evening the money was found in the home of Panzeri, who now runs a human rights organization. The police also reportedly raided that organization, Fight Impunity.
The European Parliament does not want to say more about the investigation except that “as always, it cooperates fully with the competent authorities”. The members of the PvdA in the European Parliament, who are part of the social democratic group, define the case – if the suspicions are founded – “decidedly scandalous and profoundly sad”.
The Labor Party said it had “repeatedly brought up” human rights abuses in Qatar in its political family. “And we will continue to do so. It is up to the judiciary to get to the bottom of this case now.”
