EU corruption scandal: Prime accused Eva Kaili placed under house arrest

Eva Kaili, the Greek Member of European Parliament (MEP) currently facing music for the Qatargate graft scandal has been placed under house arrest from jail custody,pendingtrial, a Belgian court announced Wednesday.

The prosecutor's office informed that Kaili, who hails from thenorthern Greek city of Thessaloniki will be allowed to stay at her Belgian address as the probe moves ahead.

"She is under house arrest in Belgium and placed under electronic surveillance. The investigating judge has just made the decision," Antoon Schotsaert, a magistrate at the Belgian federal prosecutor's office was quoted as saying by AFP.

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Kaili's lawyerSven Mary stated that despite the court announcing her client's release, she might not be able to leave prison until Friday or perhaps Monday next week. The jail officials, however, have attempted to process the paperwork and fitted her with a tracking bracelet once.

“I can confirm to you that Mrs Eva Kaili can go home because she was put under electronic monitoring by investigative judge Claise. At this stage we must must give her the opportunity to be reunited with her family, and in particular her child," said Mary.

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Kaili claims innocence

Kaili was one of the first politicians to have been arrested in the cash-for-influence corruption probe which rocked the EU.Kaili, the former vice-president of the European Parliament has been accused of taking money from the governments of Qatar and Morocco to influence EU policy in their favour.

She was arrested in December last year when the Belgian police found at least $1.6million (1.5mn euros) in cash from the houses of key suspects. Belgium's federal prosecutor released pictures of the cash found after raiding parliament offices and 19 homes.

Nearly $164,000 was foundat Kaili's apartment while a similar amount was found in her father's suitcase who was caught carrying it at the Brussels Sofitel Hotel.

However, her counsel denied the allegations by stating, "Kaili never claimed that she knew or participated in the acts of which her partner is accused, never had ownership or possession of the money found in the shared apartment. She has never in her life taken a bribe."

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The ringleader

Prosecutors have argued thatPier Antonio Panzeri, a former MEO ran a network of MEPs, trade unionists and NGO leaders who took bribes to bat for Qatar and Morocco. Essentially, the bribe was paid to water down European criticism of Qatari labour ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Both governments have vehemently denied the allegations saying there was no wrongdoing on their part. However,Panzeri is cooperating with the authorities in hopes of receiving a lighter sentence.

It was due to Panzeri's confession thatBelgian Socialist MEP Marc Tarabella was also arrested in the graft case in February and later released to house arrest.

(With inputs from agencies)

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