BRUSSELS – MISSION. On December 22, the Judicial Council will make a final decision whether to continue her detention or not. Eva Kylie. Dozens of journalists who, since yesterday morning, have besieged a room in the first basement of the court building (Palace of Justice), where the hearing of the case of four arrested for corruption case, were updated shortly after 14:00. that a Greek MEP had filed a request for an extension. Her lawyers left through another exit to avoid being met by at least 50 TV cameras waiting for them. Kylie herself probably hasn’t moved on Haren prisonwhere it is contained.

They point to Georgie

This was a clear sign that she chose to stand out from the group of her “three” cellmates, counting on a different and certainly more favorable criminal treatment. Earlier, moreover, through the Hellenic criminologist Michalis DimitrakopoulouEva Kylie’s family tried to prove that her also imprisoned husband, Italian Francesco Giorgi, was responsible for the money found in the home of a Greek MEP.

Opening the door of the courtroom, which had remained inaccessible since early morning, a Belgian policeman in a blue uniform and double-breasted hat shouted to reporters: “You can leave, the process is over. The defendants and lawyers left.”

Her Italian partner Francesco Giorgi and his compatriot, former MEP Antonio Panzeri were taken into custody.

Thanks to a Flemish journalist with experience in court coverage, it became known that, unlike Eva Kaili, the three arrested were brought before a judicial council. They were informed of the indictment against them, put themselves on it and left.

In the afternoon, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement that Giorgi, as well as former Italian MEP Antonio Panzeri, were detained for at least a month, and the third arrested, lobbyist Nicolo Figo Talamanga, was released with a “bracelet”. “.

Study

And while it was happening in the courthouse, in the editorial office of the Belgian newspaper Le Soir, leading the revelations, there was an effervescence. Not because of the outcome of the hearings, but because they were able to link the report on how and when the investigation began that led to the Qatargate revelations. We met with them at the newspaper office and they told us about what they later published on their website.

It was in 2021 that Belgian intelligence targeted Antonio Panzeri as suspected of links to a third country that sought to influence the functioning of the state apparatuses of Belgium and the EU. He conducted a secret search of his apartment in Brussels, where he found 1 million euros in cash.

This was followed by secret investigations with the assistance of five more intelligence agencies of the EU member states. – EYP was not among them – and only in July 2022, while critical evidence was being collected, the Belgian police – Anti-Corruption Directorate (OCRC) took over the investigation.

Yesterday evening found Brussels in conditions of absolute cold, at a temperature of -5 degrees Celsius. The noise of police helicopters is heard over the city, patrolling ahead of today’s summit, which is taking place in the Belgian capital. Moroccan immigrants living in the city were chained to televisions during their country’s national team’s match against France. The Qatargate scandal and the World Cup in Qatar unfold at the same time.

They expected to find more money

Extensive links to Cathargate the European press has been doing the last few days, publishing reports, new information and analyses. From wiretaps that have taken place over the past six months, authorities have learned that the former Democratic MEP Antonio Pantseri He had cash at home, the Italian said in his publication yesterday. Republic.

This money was not intended to bribe him, but to “lubricate” the mechanisms of the European Parliament and realize the desires of Qatar (and possibly Morocco): encouraging statements, friendly legislative acts. Investigators are convinced that this has already happened because, based on their calculations, they expected that at least in the Pancheri house they would find more money than they found. It is likely that the rest were given to the recipients in recent weeks. On the contrary, they were not originally going to search Kylie’s house. They decided to arrest her in her second year, due to the spontaneous nature of the crime.

According to the Italian agency ANSA, Belgium is seeking the extradition to the country of Panzeri’s wife and his daughter, whose homes in Italy have already been searched. Meanwhile, the socialist group in the European Parliament, S&D, to which Kylie belonged, has asked several of its members to resign while the investigation continues. However, the agency clarifies that Kylie retains the title of MEP, since his recall can only be carried out in accordance with national, in this case Greek, legislation. At the same time, Qatar continues to keep its distance from Kylie, calling the information about Doha’s relationship with the Greek politician unfounded.

“Brangelina of the European Parliament”

German magazine Focus writes that “Kylie’s Instagram account was full of glamorous photos, like those posted by rich IT girls, movie stars or music stars. This social democrat from economically weak Greece was doing well and she wanted to show it to the whole world.” The Ostfriesen-Zeitung newspaper calls the Kylie-George couple the Brangelina of the European Parliament.

French Courier International wonders if the case will end the left’s moral high ground, while Europe’s Politico, which calls Kyle a “cryptocurrency fan”, believes the scandal encourages euroscepticism among far-right leaders such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the French politician . Marine Le Pen.