Status: 12/20/2022 10:14 a.m
A court has decided that the wife of a former MEP will be extradited to Belgium. Her husband is already in custody in Belgium – he is considered one of the central figures in the EU corruption scandal.
In the corruption scandal surrounding the European Parliament, the wife of the arrested Italian Antonio Panzeri is extradited to Belgium. A court in the northern Italian city of Brescia granted her extradition, as reported by several Italian media. A European arrest warrant has been issued against the woman.
Allegations of corruption and money laundering
Law enforcement accuses the woman of corruption, money laundering and involvement in a criminal organization. So far she has been under house arrest with her daughter. The court wants to decide on a possible extradition of the daughter on Tuesday.
According to the Ansa news agency, the defenders of the 67-year-old want to appeal the decision. Before the announcement, you criticized that your client would have to go to prison if she was extradited – that was an intensification of the previous measure, house arrest. In this context, the woman’s defenders spoke of “violating the European Convention on Human Rights”.
Woman protests ignorance
Panzeri’s wife had testified before the court that she had never been accused of vacationing for 100,000 euros. She knew nothing about her husband’s affairs.
Her husband Antonio Panzeri is already in custody in Belgium. The former Social Democrat MEP is considered one of the central figures in the corruption scandal surrounding bribes accepted from the Gulf state of Qatar and Morocco.
In the case, the now ex-vice president of the EU Parliament, the Greek Eva Kaili, and her partner were arrested.