(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) Vice-president of the EU Eva Kaili was arrested in Brussels on
Friday evening by police investigating alleged lobbying by World
Cup hosts Qatar at the European Parliament, trend reports citing
daily
mail .
Greek socialist MEP Eva Kaili, 44, is being questioned after the
arrests of four other people as officers searched 16 properties
earlier on Friday.
This is said to include Ms Kaili's partner Luca Visentini, 53,
who is the current General Secretary of the International Trade
Union Confederation, ITUC.
It is understood that all four of those originally arrested are
Italian citizens or of Italian origin.
Ms Kaili is a member of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement and
was voted in as a vice-president in January 2022. She has been an
MEP since 2014.
She recently called Qatar a 'frontrunner in labour rights' after
meeting with the nation's labour minister, Politico reports.
The paper added Qatar is accused of targeting officials 'with a
significant political and/or strategic position' at the Parliament,
before sending them 'substantial amounts of money'.
This is despite international concerns about after it was
revealed thousands of migrant workers could have died building the
tournament's stadiums.
Belgium's federal prosecutor announced the earlier arrests after
600,000 euros in cash was discovered when police raided 16
addresses raids in the capital Brussels.
The prosecutors did not specify the identities of the suspects
or name the country involved, saying only that it was a 'Gulf'
state.
The searches were carried out as part of a wider investigation
into 'criminal organization, corruption and money laundering,' and
primarily targeted parliamentary assistants, the Belgian federal
prosecutor's office said in a statement.
But a source close to the case confirmed press reports that it
was focused on suspected attempts by Qatar to corrupt an Italian
Socialist who was a member of the European parliament from 2004 to
2019.
This story is being updated.
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