Qatargate: a new resignation in the European Parliament
The president of the sub-committee on human rights in the European Parliament resigned on January 12, 2023. REUTERS - YVES HERMAN
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A month ago, on December 10, the Belgian police carried out a series of searches in Brussels which led to the arrest of Greek MEP Eva Kaili.
She is still in pre-trial detention along with three other defendants in this case.
The case is following its course on the justice side, and on the political side, it has just experienced a new twist with the resignation in the European Parliament of the president of the sub-committee on Human Rights.
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With our correspondent in Brussels,
Pierre Benazet
Belgian socialist MEP Marie Arena tirelessly repeats that she is not questioned by the courts, that the lifting of her parliamentary immunity has not been requested and that neither her home nor her office have been searched.
The fact remains that she had already decided, a month ago to the day, to withdraw from her presidency of the sub-committee on Human Rights, following the search of the office of one of his assistants.
Following the revelations of suspicions of corruption linked to Qatar at @Europarl_EN, and the search of one of my assistants in the context of this case, I have decided that I will no longer temporarily chair the meetings of the DROI sub-committee @EP_HumanRights.
— Maria Arena (@MariaArenaEU) December 12, 2022
She now announces that she has definitively resigned because she believes that she is the subject
of “politico-media attacks which harm her image and her work
”.
But it must first be remembered that the sub-committee on Human Rights is at the center of suspicions of influence peddling in
the Qatargate affair.
► To read also:
Qatargate: the emirate denies any involvement and threatens the European Union
Towards a lifting of parliamentary immunity?
Then, the name of Marie Arena has not ceased to surface for a month.
She is on the one hand under the spotlight for having forgotten to declare a work trip to Qatar in May, a trip paid for by the Qatari organizers, and on the other hand her name has been mentioned many times because of her contacts. closer to the former Italian MEP Antonio Panzeri, presumed to be at the center of the network of corruption.
► To read also:
Qatargate, a scandal that shakes up the European institutions
The lifting of parliamentary immunity has been requested for two Socialist MEPs, the Belgian Marc Tarabella, of Italian origin like her, and the Italian Andrea Cozzolino
It is on January 16, during the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, that the deputies will have to decide on this request for the lifting of parliamentary immunity.
► To read also:
Pier Antonio Panzeri, a former MEP at the heart of Qatargate
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