Daily Times

A Greek MEP who is the last suspect detained in a Belgian probe into alleged bribery at the European Parliament was to leave jail on Friday for house arrest, her lawyer told AFP. Eva Kaili, a former deputy speaker in the parliament, will be released at 10:00 am (0800 GMT) on Friday and given an electronic bracelet to monitor her presence in her Brussels home, her lawyer Michalis Dimitrakopoulos said late Thursday. Earlier Thursday, two other suspects, Belgian MEP Marc Tarabella and Italian former EU lawmaker Pier Antonio Panzeri, were released, also with electronic bracelets, to their residences in Belgium.

The so-called Qatargate inquiry focuses on alleged attempts by the Gulf state and North African kingdom Morocco to buy influence in the parliament, the European Union’s directly elected assembly. Both countries deny any involvement, as do Kaili and Tarabella.

Panzeri, who struck a plea deal with prosecutors to spill the beans on the people and countries involved, clutched two bags as he climbed into a waiting car outside the Saint Gilles prison. He did not speak to the waiting media. “He is obviously happy to move from prison to his apartment but he remains detained,” Panzeri’s lawyer Laurent Kennes told AFP.

“He’s locked up all day in his apartment with his wife and can’t go out. It’s still complicated.”