Former European Parliament Vice-President Eva Kaili has filed a complaint for “calumny” against ex-lawmaker Pier Antonio Panzeri, a central figure in the Belgian corruption probe known as “Qatargate,” according to her lawyers, and as also reported by Italian news agency ANSA.
The complaint “was filed months ago, and today the interrogation was held before the [Milan court’s] chief prosecutor,” Domenico Aiello, a lawyer for Eva Kaili, told Euractiv.
Under Italian law, calunnia involves knowingly making a false criminal allegation and carries a penalty of two to six years in prison, compared with up to one year for defamation, an Italian lawyer not involved in the case said.
Kaili was arrested in Brussels in December 2022, along with Panzeri and others, on charges of allegedly taking part in a criminal organisation, corruption, and money laundering. Belgian magistrates suspect that countries such as Qatar and Morocco sought to sway European Parliament decisions through cash payments and gifts to influential lawmakers or their assistants.
Kaili’s complaint targets former fellow socialist lawmaker Panzeri, another of her lawyers confirmed, on the condition of remaining anonymous. Panzeri, who negotiated a plea bargain with Belgian authorities early on in the case, admitted wrongdoing and made allegations that brought Kaili, then a vice-president at the European Parliament, and her partner Francesco Giorgi, then a parliamentary assistant, into the case. Kaili, who spent six months in detention and under house arrest, has consistently denied wrongdoing. Giorgi, also jailed for three months, said his confessions were obtained under duress.
Panzeri rejects “attempts at intimidation”
Julien Uyttendaele, a lawyer for Pier Antonio Panzeri, said his client “does not intend to take part in any public debate on the matter, maintaining — as he has from the very beginning — that his statements are reserved exclusively for the judicial authorities.”
“At most, he indicates that he is completely at ease, has told the whole truth, and does not intend in any way to be unsettled by attempts at intimidation, which come precisely at a time when those accusing him do not appear to be unrelated to a commercial venture linked to the publication in Italy of a book about them,” Uyttendaele added.
Kaili has recently started a book tour in Italy, in which she has shared her own account of the corruption probe with Italian reporters, pointing out alleged procedural missteps in the way Belgian authorities handled the case.
Belgian proceedings have slowed due to internal procedural checks of the investigation by top Belgian magistrates, some of them initiated by Kaili’s defence team. The Qatargate investigation is still ongoing and no one has been formally indicted yet. Qatar and Morocco have denied wrongdoing in the case.
The Milan prosecutor’s office did not reply to a request for comment. It remains unclear whether it has formally opened a probe based on Kaili’s complaint.
Contacted, Eva Kaili and Francesco Giorgi did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A lawyer for Francesco Giorgi declined to comment.
Eddy Wax contributed reporting.
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