Greek and Belgian financial police have searched the Athens homes of Greek MEP Eva Kaili and her sister.
The raids came after a Belgian prosecutor, along with Greek and Belgian officers, executed a European warrant as part of the ongoing Qatargate inquiry.
Kaili is a key suspect in the probe into bribery allegations regarding a number of MEPs and officials at the European Parliament.
The police searches occurred between Monday June 26 and Wednesday 28. The timing of them has raised eyebrows; the Belgian prosecution asked the financial police to investigate Kaili and others some seven months ago, after the Qatargate scandal first broke.
Greek authorities conducted this week’s raids at Kaili’s home, the home of her sister Mantalena, as well as an office where Kaili and her ex-partner, Francesco Giorgi, who is also a Qatargate suspect, have a real estate company. During the searches officers seized computers and hardware.
Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, a lawyer for Kaili in Greece, issued a press release decrying the raids. “As expected, nothing objectionable was found, the only worthy item found and confiscated (!!!!) was a baby necklace of her daughter, which had been gifted by the future godparents at her birth,” he said.
“Other than that, Ms Kaili’s sister and her husband have made their mobile phones, computers, and laptops available to the Belgian public prosecutor’s office so that they can be examined by the Brussels laboratories.”
Apparently referring to Belgian MEP Marie Arena, who is also in the spotlight regarding Qatargate, he said: “After the revelation that the son of the investigator of the case was involved in a company with the son of a key person involved, a Belgian MEP, international press reports created clouds of suspicion about the impartiality of the investigation.
“I would like to believe that it is a coincidence that the present investigation in Athens was held at the same time as the revelations in Belgium,” he added.
He concluded that: “Seven months of investigations in Belgium against Ms Kaili did not produce any evidence.”
The seasoned Belgium-based journalist, Jean Quatremer, seemed to support Dimitrakopoulos’ claims, pointing out that the Belgian federal prosecutor in Greece was Raphael Malagnini.
Quatremer alleges Malagnini is a close friend of the former lead investigator into Qatargate, Michel Claise, who last week had to step aside due to a “possible conflict of interest” regarding Arena.
Arena, observers say, seems to be connected to many involved in Qatargate but she has remained off the prosecutors’ radar. However, a string of recent revelations apparently involving the Belgian MEP may well change that, some say.
Malagnini is said to have told lawyers in December that he wanted Kaili to be detained in prison as long as possible. However, earlier this week, the court of appeal in Brussels had ruled she would be allowed to travel freely between Schengen countries, her lawyers said.
Former #Qatargate lead investigator, Michel Claise, wanted Belgian MEP, Marie Arena, to be relieved of her Parliamentary immunity some time ago, according to Belgian media. https://t.co/t94Re5YeuH
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) June 29, 2023
