Liberation: Why is Eva Kaili still in prison?

The French newspaper Liberation is turning against the Belgian justice for the fact that Eva Kaili is still in prison for her participation in the Qatargate scandal, as the Greek MEP completes four months in custody.

In particular, the correspondent of the French newspaper, Jean Catremer, states in his article that Kylie remains in prison “without any convincing reason being presented by Belgian Justice”, while he stands by the fact that her role in the “Qatargate” case is marginal . However, the former vice-president of the European Parliament was the one who spent the most time in a Belgian prison, deprived of her two-year-old daughter, whom she managed to see for a few hours, while all the others targeted by the investigation were released, adds Gallos journalist.

“The scandal of this arrest of a presumed innocent until proven guilty person takes on greater dimensions as from Thursday, the mastermind of “Qatargate”, the Italian former Socialist MEP, Pier Antonio Panzeri, in turn regained a status of partial freedom with an electronic bracelet. Earlier, at the end of February, Panzeri’s main accomplice, Francesco Giorgi, a parliamentary aide and partner of Kaili, had been released from prison, also with an electronic bracelet,” Katremer’s article underlines.

The extension of the pre-trial detention of Kaili and Tarabella – the arrest of the latter is considered even more “absurd” – “is only justified if there is a risk to public safety”. However, Kaili and Tarabella do not have a criminal record and neither did they threaten, injure or kill anyone.

In addition, there must be a risk of flight or destruction of evidence even though all evidence is seized and judicial review meets the risk of flight.

Katremer adds that, based on what he knows, “Kaili faces at worst a fine and a suspended prison sentence for money laundering, the only offense found since she can’t explain where the money came from.”

At the same time, the newspaper “Liberation” refreshes the memory of its readers, recalling that Belgian Justice had handled the case of the former Minister of Wallonia, Serge Kubla, who was accused in 2014 of corruption and money laundering, in a very different way, as accounts with several million euros in tax “havens” were found in his name.

However, his case was settled within 24 hours and, after nine years, he was given a suspended prison sentence and a heavy fine.

The French publication also writes that “one can think that the Belgian judge Clees, who will retire at the end of the year, wants to leave making an impression, as he does not care about the outcome knowing that the trial will take some ten years.”

“The most shocking thing is that, apart from some Italian socialist MEPs, who protested the fate of Eva Kaili, the European Parliament turned its gaze elsewhere,” the French correspondent’s article underlines.