The vice president of the European Parliament detained for corruption is stripped of her duties and bags with bills are found in her home

• Brussels Macro-raid in the European Parliament for corruption related to Qatar and the World Cup

The pressure for greater ethical control has increased on Saturday on the

after the arrest on Friday in Brussels of one of its vice presidents and four other people on suspicion of corruption linked to Qatar.

The presidency of the European Parliament announced on Saturday night that it

Greek MEP

arrested the day before in the Belgian capital.

"This is not an isolated incident," said the

"For several decades now, Parliament has allowed a

to develop ...and a complete absence of independent ethical scrutiny," he added.

Control at the institution is "defective," added

a law professor at the

in the Belgian city of

Five people were arrested

in the framework of an investigation into alleged payments of "substantial sums" by a Gulf country to influence the decisions of MEPs.

The Belgian prosecutor's office avoided identifying the country, although a source close to the case confirmed to AFP that it is

"Any accusation of misconduct by the State of Qatar demonstrates gross misinformation," a senior Qatari official told AFP on Saturday.

The case reached a new magnitude when the identity of the fifth person arrested was learned: the 44-year-old MEP Eva Kaili, who held one of the vice-presidencies of the chamber at the time of her arrest.

The legislator is a partner of another of the suspects in the case arrested a few hours earlier.

The prosecution reported the arrests after finding 600,000 euros in cash [similar amount in dollars] in 16 raids in Brussels.

Kaili was immediately removed from the

group

in the European assembly announced her suspension "with immediate effect".

"Bags Full of Bills"

Interrogations of the five suspects continued on Saturday, a spokesman for the Belgian federal prosecutor's office said.

The investigation, led by Judge

focuses on acts of "corruption" and "money laundering" in an organized gang.

According to the Belgian newspaper

"several bags full of banknotes" were found at Kaili's home in

Police searched the home after finding the deputy's father with a large amount of cash in a suitcase, according to that report.

"We will do everything in our power to cooperate with justice," tweeted the president of the European Parliament,

French MEP

(radical left) denounced Qatar's "aggressive lobbying" and demanded a debate on the issue next week in a plenary session.

French Socialist representatives denounced "a very serious scandal", while the Greens

and

criticized the Social Democratic group for its "guilty complacency" with Qatar during the last plenary session in the European Parliament.

The ecologist and social democrat MEPs announced that they will oppose on Monday to start negotiations for a liberalization of visas for Qataris in the European Union (EU).

The former vice president Kaili.ERIC VIDALAFP

According to press reports confirmed by AFP, at least three of the detainees are Italian or of Italian origin.

They are former socialist MEP

the general secretary of the

and

parliamentary assistant for the S&D group and Kaili's partner.

There were also two arrests in Italy, government sources confirmed to AFP.

She is about

The issue has exploded in the middle of the World Cup in Qatar, which is trying to refute accusations of not respecting the human rights of the thousands of migrants who worked on the construction of the stadiums.

Kaili traveled to Qatar at the beginning of November,

where he congratulated himself, together with the Qatari Minister of Labour, on the emirate's reforms in this sector.

"Qatar is a leader in the field of labor rights," said the MEP

on November 22 in the rostrum of the European Parliament, generating discontent in the left-wing groups.

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• Corruption

• European Union