BRUSSELS. Second MEP after Eva Kyliewas arrested yesterday by the Belgian authorities as part of an investigation Cathargate. Belgian socialist Mark Tarabella he was arrested at 6 am local time and, despite his claims of innocence, is charged with bribery in the amount of 140,000 euros. His safe in the city of Liège had previously been raided, and authorities searched several offices in the town hall of Anfisnes, a small district in eastern Belgium, of which Tarabella had been mayor for 30 years. Belgian authorities are trying to unravel a case in which the governments of Qatar and Morocco tried to bribe MEPs to buy their favor. It is recalled that during the first raids, together with the arrest of Kylie, the authorities confiscated sums totaling 1.5 million euros.

Investigation and waiver of immunity

Tarabella’s home in Brussels was raided last month, and last week the European Parliament granted him immunity at the request of the Belgian federal prosecutor. According to the report of the European Parliament’s legal committee, he is accused of receiving sums of money to support a “third country”. Investigators believe he is a close associate of Pier Antonio Panzeri, a former Italian MEP who is seen as the mastermind behind the corruption ring. At regular intervals, perhaps every two months, Pancheri gave Tarabella a paper bag containing 20,000 euros. The last time this happened was last summer.

According to the report of the European Parliament’s legal committee, he received sums of money to support a “third country”.

Pancheri cooperates with prosecutors in exchange for favorable treatment. After all, he is considered a key informant, which led to the arrest of Kailis and Tarabellas. The Greek former vice-president of the European Parliament and Pancheri were arrested in December, along with the former’s partner Francesco Giorgi and Brussels-based NGO head Nicolo Figa Talamanca. All four are in custody awaiting trial. Tarabella, 59, has been a member of the European Parliament since 2004, with a two-year hiatus (2007-09), when he was minister in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium.

Who

He was a member of the European liaison mission with the Arabian Peninsula, including Qatar. After the scandal broke, he resigned from his post and from the group of socialists and democrats in the European Parliament. A month before his involvement was revealed, Tarabella participated in a debate in the European Parliament committee on human rights in Qatar and the World Cup. Tarabela, who was not a member of the committee, criticized colleagues who drew attention to the deaths of migrants while building infrastructure in Qatar. He blamed them for a lack of information and said that such criticism of China and Russia had not been made in the past when the two countries hosted major sporting events.