Last December, Arena announced via Twitter that he was “temporarily” leaving the presidency of this subcommittee “after the revelations of suspicions of corruption related to Qatar in the European Parliament” and that one of his parliamentary assistants was investigated “in the framework of this affair” which was renamed “Qatargate”.
Then, he said that he was temporarily taking that step “until everything” was clarified, and today he confirmed that his resignation is final, in a statement sent to the Belgian news agency that was picked up by the Spanish Europa Press.
While waiting for the MEPs to choose another head, the first vice-president of the subcommittee will assume the position provisionally.
The Socialist MEP was not charged, nor did the Belgian Justice ask the European Parliament to suspend her immunity, as it did with other MEPs involved.
However, his name appears as a frequent contact of former MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, who the researchers consider to be the main actor in the network to reach other of his colleagues and parliamentary staff.
Panzeri, founder of the NGO Fight Impunity through which contacts were made with MEPs, is the main defendant in the investigation that was revealed in December, when the Belgian Justice made the first arrests and searches in the offices and homes of people linked to the European Parliament.
In addition to Panzeri, three other people remain in pretrial detention in Belgium accused of belonging to a criminal organization, money laundering and corruption, including the dismissed vice-president of the European Parliament Eva Kaili and her partner, parliamentary assistant Francesco Giorgi.
In next week’s plenary session in Strasbourg, France, the European Parliament will activate the formal procedure to process the request of the Belgian Justice to suspend the parliamentary immunity of two other MEPs, the Belgian Marc Tarabella and the Italian Andrea Cozzolino, to be investigated. .
Source: Ambito
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