Qatargate: Eva Kelly defends herself against corruption allegations and targets her partner for the bag with Euros at home

Athens.– Greek MEP eva caliincluded in the sound Qatar related corruption scandal, He defended his innocence on Wednesday. Awaiting a judicial resolution and is assured was unaware of the existence of a large sum of money found in his residence,

A Belgian court is to decide on Wednesday whether the former vice-president of the European Parliament is still in custody, He is suspected of receiving money from Doha to protect the interests of the Emirateswho currently holds World soccer.

Justice must also decide whether the three other people detained since Sunday remain in custody Former deputy Pier-Antonio Panzeri and fellow Italian Francesco Giorgi of Cali.

Arrested on Friday in Brussels, the 44-year-old socialist lawmaker, stripped of his duties as vice president of the European Parliament on Tuesday, said through his lawyer in Athens that He was “innocent” and was unaware of the existence of the bag of notes found by Belgian authorities at his home in Brussels.

Eva Kelly “has nothing to do with the money found in her house (…) I didn’t know this money existed”, assured AFP Michaelis Dimitrakopoulos.

The lawyer insisted his client was “innocent” even though they were found at his apartment in the Belgian capital Bags full of 150,000 euro notesAccording to a judicial source.

The lawyer, who said he spoke several times on the phone with the detained MEP, said that “Only his companion”, with whom he lived, could “give answers about the existence of this wealth”.

was located with Callie’s father A suitcase containing 750,000 Euros in cash.

also found 600,000 euros on the house of Pier-Antonio PanzeriA former Italian socialist MEP who currently runs an NGO in Brussels.

Qatar has denied the allegations But a judicial source in Belgium confirmed to AFP that it was the country that was in research centre.

Faced with a scandal threatening his credibility, the European Parliament on Tuesday stripped the MEP of his functions as vice-president. This sanction for “serious misconduct” approved almost unanimously Of the deputies present at the plenary session, that is, 628 votes in favor of 628 registered.

Since 2014 MEP Kaili has assumed the position of one of the 14 Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament for eleven months, after having held a seat in the Greek Parliament between 2007 and 2012.

According to sources in the Greek Pasok-Kinal, the leadership of this formation – already shaken by corruption cases in its history – also pressures the politician to resign his seat as an MEP.

Nikos Androlakis, a Euro-Legislator, leader of Pasok-Kinal, presented the proposal before the full assembly of the European Parliament on Tuesday “Creation of a special body to probe properties of MEPs and the manner in which they were acquired”.

The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, condemned the case of Callie A. The “attack” against democracy.

The scandal has also caused an uproar in Greece, where corruption cases plague the country. Many Greeks expressed their embarrassment at seeing the former TV presenter embroiled in controversy.

Greek Anti-Money Laundering Authority The financial assets of Callie and her relatives were frozen.

The Greek press also highlighted the relationship between Kaili and the well-known Greek-Russian magnate Ivan Savidis, owner of, among other things, the PAOK football club in Thessaloniki and a former deputy in the Russian Duma.

AFP Agency

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