It has come to light that the defense of the “Qatargate” suspects remained in the dark for over a year. Reports, interceptions, and evidence that filled in four boxes were hidden. These concealed elements could be favorable to the suspects. However, documents were kept out strategically, according to the primary investigator of the investigation.
Francesco Giorgi’s lawyer explained that the documents were hidden to avoid giving “advantages” to the suspects. It appears to be a total violation of the right of defense. It shows the failure of the Belgian judicial system and the authorities who tried to cover these documents.
The documents contained the names of Maria Arena and Ugo Lemaire. Initially brought up by Panzeri, Arena’s name was excluded despite her appearing several times in the papers drawn up by the investigators. Now, Defenders of the suspects were able to learn new details, such as the fact that at Lemaire’s house on July 20th, 280 thousand euros in cash were found, many of which were on the entrance table, tied with a rubber band, and a GPS tracker with a magnet.
Shockingly, in the house, there were also plastic bags with cannabis inside and a false identity card, with Lemaire’s photo but the details of another person. With that document, Lemaire rented a garage, where four cars are kept, registered to various people, including a note to the police for drug trafficking.
Lemaire, however, was summoned for questioning on December 19, five months after the search. An enormous amount of time, considering the need to avoid hiding the evidence. And assisting him was the lawyer of Silvia Panzeri, daughter of Pier Antonio, who has had access to the Qatargate file since the beginning, having been arrested and used by the prosecutor’s office as a bargaining chip for the former MEP’s confession. These leaks undermine the fairness of the judicial process and violate fundamental rights.
The handling of evidence by Belgian authorities made more suspicions. Furthermore, Arena’s leaked audio was added to the file a year after being placed under embargo. It happened when the searches of her and her son’s home occurred. Arena Stayed in her parliament position despite the revelation of the audio, which exposed her involvement.
Here, the question arises of the conduct of Belgian authorities and their procedure. The first and foremost question is why KAili was arrested despite no proof against her and no criminal record against her. The immunity revocation of Kailai occurred firsthand. However, there was no immunity revocation for Arena, although she was directly implicated, and here, audio leaks were public. It raises serious concerns about biases.
The prosecutor’s biased approach favored some suspects over others. Arena was also allowed to speak publicly, but Kaili faced strict restrictions. It includes prohibitions on speaking to the press under threat of arrest.
The Qatargate scandal seems to have been staged and exposed to the Belgian justice system. There was no fairness and selective enforcement. The concerns leak cast doubts on the case’s integrity. The treatment disparity of its key players signals that the innocent individual was targeted.
