A year ago, the Qatargate Scandal broke out in European Politics. On December 9, 2022, Belgian Police officers seized 878,000 euros from the home of the Vice-President of the European Parliament, Eva Kaili, and a suitcase of her father. Recently, Eva Kaili gave her first interview on Belgian television, accompanied by her lawyer, Sven Mary.
Eva Kaili interprets the facts and calls the scandal rather Belgiangate. According to her, she was at home just a year ago when Francesco Giorgi was arrested. Belgian authorities also took his car. Kaili was shocked and thought it was a car accident. There, the whole story began. Kaili started receiving messages and articles with headlines.
Further, Kaili said She had money at home, her partner’s salary, who gave cash to Panzeri. He had been paying this salary for years and hoped to get the money back at some point. Then Kaili found a bag that wasn’t hers. She realized it must be Panzeri’s and called the police. She couldn’t reach Francesco, and no one knew anything. She asked her father to take the baby until she could contact her lawyer.
Kaili claimed that after this, she called Marie Arena to return this bag, and Marie told her to leave it at the hotel or restaurant and that Marie could get it back. On the other hand, The police intercepted Eva Kaili’s father, who had just left his Brussels home, with a bag full of notes totaling 720,000 euros. Further, In Eva Kaili’s apartment, the police discovered 158,000 euros in two travel bags. According to Kaili, she thought that it was the right thing to do to return the money to its owner. Her father didn’t know about it; he thought it was something for Panzeri. Antonio Panzeri, a former MEP, has already admitted to being the mastermind of the influence campaign in favor of Morocco’s and Qatar’s interests.
Moreover, Kaili assures that it was not her money. Her fingerprints are not on the money. Further, there was surveillance; Belgian authorities would have known about it if she had been involved.
During this development, Eva Kaili was quickly imprisoned because the Belgian Judiciary ruled that it was “flagrante delicto” and that parliamentary immunity no longer applies. The lawyer of Kaili, Sven Mary, responds that There was no ‘flagrante delicto.” If the police were observing Kaili if there were the secret services in front of Kaili’s house. So one can hardly speak of “flagrante delicto,” since one is being observed. Sven Mary explains that immunity is critical, and Belgian authorities violate Kaili’s immunity.
Kaili is the case’s key player who spent the longest time in prison, four months. Eva Kaili feels confident now. She contends that she feels more vital now that she can see her daughter. According to Kaili, she also has access to her files and has the evidence and the facts to demonstrate the innocence that she has proclaimed since day one.
