Status: 02/11/2023 01:10 a.m
Their immunity had already been lifted at the beginning of the month, and now the arrests have followed: MEPs Tarabella and Cozzolino are said to be involved in the corruption scandal in the European Parliament.
Two more members of the European Parliament have been arrested in connection with the EU corruption scandal. The Belgian Marc Tarabella was arrested in Brussels on Friday afternoon and interrogated by the public prosecutor. After that, the Italian police arrested Andrea Cozzolino in the evening. He had been treated in a clinic in Naples and was taken into custody by the financial police when leaving the hospital, as Italian media reported unanimously.
The two MEPs were recently expelled from the Social Democrats group. At the beginning of February, they were also stripped of their parliamentary immunity. They are accused of accepting bribes from third countries. Both protested their innocence.
Parliament report sees evidence of corruption
According to a parliamentary report, Cozzolino “is suspected of having participated in an agreement with other individuals to work together to protect the interests of foreign states in the European Parliament.” This should be done “in particular by preventing the adoption of parliamentary resolutions” that “could harm the interests of these States, in exchange for sums of money”.
As for Tarabella, the report said testimony against him indicated that such payments had been made to him on a number of occasions. The total sum amounts to 120,000 to 140,000 euros.
Several suspects in custody
The scandal came to light in early December after a series of raids in Brussels and Italy. The investigators confiscated several hundred thousand euros. Four suspects are accused of corruption, money laundering and membership of a criminal organization.
They are Greek MEP Eva Kaili, who was the vice-president of the EU Parliament before the allegations became known, her partner and parliamentary assistant Francesco Giorgi, former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri and the head of a charity, Niccolo Figa-Talamanca.
Panzeri has now reached an agreement with the public prosecutor’s office and wants to unpack as an informant. He is currently in custody, as are Giorgi and his partner and Kaili.