Former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, a key suspect in the European Parliament (EP) corruption scandal involving Qatar and Morocco, signed a deal with Belgian prosecutors on Tuesday in which he agrees to cooperate with investigators in exchange for a reduced sentence. a term of imprisonment with execution, reported AFP and Agerpres.

“Thanks to this memorandum,” the Belgian prosecutor’s office said in a statement, Panzeri “undertakes to inform the investigators and the judicial system, in particular, about the mode of operation, the financial arrangements with third countries, the financial schemes used and the beneficiaries of these schemes and the benefits offered.” .

In addition, Pierre Antonio Panzeri, who is currently in pre-trial detention in Belgium, will have to inform investigators about “the involvement of known or as yet unknown persons in the case, including the identity of the persons he admitted to bribing.”

In exchange for this cooperation, which is carried out in accordance with the Belgian law on the status of persons who enter into plea agreements with the judiciary, “the punishment that Mr. Panzeri will receive will be effective but limited,” the prosecutor’s office also said. This punishment will consist of “prison imprisonment by firing squad, a fine and the confiscation of all acquired property benefits, currently valued at one million euros,” the same statement said.

Qatargate Allegations and Suspects

Pier Antonio Panzeri, 67, was arrested in Brussels on December 9, along with the arrest of Vice President of the European Parliament, Greek Socialist MEP Eva Kaili and assistant MEP from Italy Francesco Giorgi, Eva Kaili’s life partner. .

Together with Niccolo Figa-Talamanca, an Italian NGO executive who is also in pre-trial detention, they were charged with forming an organized crime group, money laundering and corruption.

Belgian justice also demanded the extradition of Panzeri’s wife, Maria Colleoni, and his daughter, Silvia Panzeri. Their extradition was upheld by an Italian court, but Maria Colleoni’s extradition was challenged on appeal to the Italian court of cassation, and Silvia Panzeri’s lawyer said Monday that a decision would soon be made on whether such an appeal would be filed in her case as well. .

Two other social democrat MEPs, the Belgian Mark Tarabella and the Italian Andrea Cozzolino, are under investigation and the procedure for removing their parliamentary immunity has been initiated.

The General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (CSI) Luca Visentini is being investigated for corruption and money laundering.

The defendants are suspected of receiving large sums of money from the state of Qatar to influence its favorable statements and policy decisions in the EU, especially regarding workers’ rights in Qatar, a country often criticized for violating these rights.

What punishment does Pier Antonio Panzeri risk receiving?

During the search of Panzeri’s residence, 600,000 euros were found. According to Belgian media, he allegedly received money from Morocco to support the country’s interests in the European Union.

According to his lawyer, according to the agreement with Belgian justice, Pierre Antonio Panzeri will receive five years in prison, of which only one year will be executed.

Corruption scandal in the European Parliament

• It will be recalled that the European Parliament will shake off a high-profile corruption scandal after accusations that Qatar offered money and gifts to EP officials in order to influence their decision-making process.
• At the center of the accusations is the Greek MEP Eva Kaili, at that time the vice-president of the European Parliament, elected to the EP since 2014. She, along with three other persons, was arrested by the Belgian authorities and charged with corruption.
• He would receive large sums of money from Qatar to influence his colleagues to make decisions beneficial to the country. At the time of her detention, the MEP would have been caught in the act, having “bags of money”, so she could not claim parliamentary immunity.
• Later, the leaders of the European Parliament voted to recall Eva Kylie from the post of vice-president, and the chief European prosecutor Laura Codruca Kovesi appealed to the European Parliament with a request to lift the MEP’s immunity.

Read also:

• Qatargate: Eva Kylie partially admitted her guilt. The route of the suitcases with money was revealed by the MEP

• The “brains of the operation” of corruption at the top of the European Parliament. Details voiced by Eva Kylie’s partner during interrogations

• Qatargate: Greece demands information on Eva Kylie’s Panamanian accounts to check if $20 million in wire transfers from Qatar were made

• Qatargate: a new name in the European Parliament’s corruption investigation is a former European Commissioner

• Two members of the European Parliament admitted that they made undeclared paid trips to Qatar

• MEPs allowed the European Prosecutor’s Office to demand the removal of parliamentary immunity