The investigating judge Michel Claise, at the end of the interrogation this morning, confirmed the arrest of the socialist MEP Marc Tarabella in the Qatargate case. The validation hearing has been set for Thursday. “The hearing went well. Tarabella answered all the investigators’ questions frankly and in a serene atmosphere – said the lawyer Maxime Tioller – No new elements were presented to corroborate the money transmission allegations. The The only evidence against my client are Mr. Panzeri’s comments. It is the word of a criminal, Panzeri, against that of a man who has been honest all his life, Tarabella. My client will continue to fight to have his innocence recognized “. Andrea Cozzolino was also arrested yesterday: the two former socialist party comrades are suspected of being involved in the Euro-Moroccan-Qatari scandal under the weight of the revelations of the repentant Pier Antonio Panzeri and his assistant Francesco Giorgi. Accusations that have already ended up in the minutes several times and can be summarized for the Belgian in the accusation of having contributed to the corruption plot by having bank transfers paid in installments of between 120 thousand and 140 thousand euros, and for the Italian of having acted to steer EU policies in favor of Doha and Rabat with “direct” contacts also with the Moroccan 007s.
The accusations
Tarabella’s catch – reports Le Soir – was transformed into arrest on charges of public corruption, money laundering and belonging to a criminal organization. The MEP was arrested yesterday, when a safe in a bank located in Liège, some offices of the town hall of Anthisnes, of which the Belgian politician is burgomaster, and his office in the European Parliament were also searched. “Finally, I’ve been waiting for you for two months, now I can be heard,” Tarabella allegedly told police officers yesterday.
Cozzolino was also arrested
Yesterday the search for Cozzolino ended only in the evening after two unsuccessful attempts between Brussels and Naples. Discharged from a clinic in the city where he had gone due to health problems, the men of the Gico of the Neapolitan Gdf’s economic-financial police unit notified the measure to the MEP, for whom there is now a risk of a long judicial procedure to face immediately in Italy, but which could end up in the hands of the investigating judge Michael Claise in Belgium. Cozzolino was taken to the Neapolitan prison of Poggioreale.
Source-tg24.sky.it