Belgian police detain EU lawmaker Marc Tarabella for questioning in corruption scandal

Belgium’s federal prosecutor’s office on Friday detained an EU lawmaker for questioning in a corruption scandal that rocked the EU Parliament in December, as police continued to conduct further raids.The office stated that a banking safe which belonged to Belgian lawmaker Marc Tarabella was searched by the police in the city of Liege.

Meanwhile, the police also raided the offices in the town hall of Anthisnes, where Tarabella worked as mayor.

Earlier this month, the protective immunity of Tarabella was removed by the European Union's parliament to ensure that the investigators can question him.

The assembly had overwhelmingly voted in favour of lifting the parliamentary protection of Tarabella and another Italian lawmaker Andrea Cozzolino.

Through their lawyers, both men have conveyed their willingness to co-operate with Belgian authorities.

The prosecutor’s office said that the police detained Taraballa for questioning, adding that it is now for the investigating judge to decide if they would hear him in the next few hours.

Tarabella has denied having any links with the corruption scandal, in which it was suspected that bribes were paid by Qatari and Moroccan officials to influence the European Parliament's policy-making and decisions.

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As per the report compiled to lift the immunity of Taraballa, a Belgian investigation stated that he “may have been involved in acts of corruption connected with interference by one or more foreign states aimed at influencing the debates and decisions taken in the European Parliament.”

It stated that “testimony against him suggests that such payments were made to him on several occasions, amounting to a total of between $132,00 and $154,000.

(With inputs from agencies)

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