Belgian judicial authorities will announce later this week whether Greek MEP Eva Kaili should be released from pre-trial detention with an electronic bracelet, her lawyer has said.
Speaking after an appeal hearing in Brussels, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos said he expected the decision to be announced on March 3.
On February 16, the pre-trial council decided to extend Kaili’s pre-trial detention by two months but her legal team appealed the decision.
If the appeal is again rejected, she will have to spend another two months in jail until a new release request can be made.
Meanwhile, the Brussels prosecutor’s office confirmed that Francesco Giorgi, Kaili’s partner and co-accused in the so-called Qatargate corruption case, was released from Saint-Gilles prison on Monday with an electronic bracelet.
The scandal came to light in early December after authorities launched a series of raids across Brussels, and in Italy, seizing hundreds of thousands of euros.
Four people were charged with corruption, money laundering and membership in a criminal organization. In addition to Kaili, who was an assembly vice president until the charges came to light, and Giorgi, former MEP lawmaker Pier Antonio Panzeri and the head of a charity group, Niccolo Figa-Talamanca have also been charged.
Panzeri has since reached an agreement with Belgian prosecutors to act as an informant. He has promised to reveal the names of those involved and how money might have been moved around, in exchange for a lighter sentence.
Source : Ekathimerini
