The former chairwoman of the European Parliament sub-committe on Human Rights, Marie Arena, has gone public for the first time to defend her actions with regard to the Qatargate bribery scandal.
Arena, a Belgian Socialist MEP, stressed her innocence and slammed Pier Antonio Panzeri, a former MEP who has struck a plea bargain deal with Belgian investigators, for casting “a long shadow” over the committee’s work.
Talking to Brussels newspaper La Capitale via text message, Arena accused Panzeri of “betraying” the Parliament. Claims that she might have somehow been influenced, via Panzeri, by the Moroccan Government were demonstrably false because she voted against Morocco in the committee, she said. “As for the manipulation of Panzeri, unfortunately, I think he betrayed the parliament as a whole, given the office he held. Personally, I have never changed my political positions, regardless of the strategies used by Panzeri. The proof, among others: my votes on Morocco which were in total opposition to its positions”, she wrote. Panzeri is also a former committee chair.
The comments followed the revelation that she and other Qatargate accused were treated to celebrity-style luxury at the fabulous La Mamounia resort in Marrakesh, Morocco. Arena’s bill was reportedly paid by a Moroccan diplomat though she said she believed Panzeri when he said he would settle it. “It was a meeting on the Moroccan fisheries and agri [agriculture] agreements, on which I opposed [Morocco] (often quite isolated) from start to finish until the vote in the INTA [international trade] committee and in [the parliament] plenary,” she wrote. “To suggest that I could have been ‘bought’ by this mission [i.e. luxury trip] is simply fabrication, given my clear positions on the Moroccan file…”.
Morocco is one of two countries rumoured to have sought to influence Euro MPs, the other being Qatar.
Asked about the key committee meeting on 14 November last year, when committee members defended Qatar’s human rights record, Arena replied that her role was to organise “contradictory debates”, presumably balanced debates. According to a leaked arrest warrant published by Politico, Arena was allegedly part of a quadrumvirate which did Panzeri’s bidding. Asked by La Capitale if she regretted inviting a Qatari minister to the meeting in question, she replied: “…we have always sought, as far as possible, to organise contradictory debates… So I maintain that the presence of the Minister of Qatar was not a mistake. And moreover, no parliamentarian present at the committee questioned [his] presence when they received the invitation to participate … On the contrary. Obviously, no one could imagine what we know today”. Audio of the meeting suggests Qatar’s opponents’ attempts to air accusations were cut short by the chair.
Arena has not been questioned by investigators. Neither have investigators asked the Parliament to lift her immunity. She resigned from her role as human rights sub-committee chair in January “to protect her image”.
Her comments leave unanswered questions. If investigators believe Arena was part of a scheming “quadrumvirate”, why haven’t they talked to her over the last three months, since the scandal broke? How much did the Marrakesh trip cost, and why didn’t she declare it in the Parliament register as she was supposed to (La Capitale asked her these last two questions but she did not reply)? What does she think of the accusations levelled at former Parliament vice president Eva Kaili?
There has been no response from Ms Arena to a request for comment from the Brussels Signal.
