December 14 – Eva Kaili, one of the key figures caught up in the latest burgeoning scandal involving World Cup hosts Qatar, says she feels betrayed by European Parliament colleagues who stripped the Greek MEP of her role as vice president of the assembly.
Kaili (pictured) was ditched after being accused of accepting bribes from Qatar for defending the country’s human rights record and treatment of migrant workers. The accusations form part of an international investigation into alleged illicit lobbying by Qatar.
Earlier this week it was revealed that a Belgian judge had charged four people with participating in a criminal organisation, money laundering and corruption following a string of searches over several days. Prosecutors said cash worth about €600,000 had been found at the home of one suspect, €150,000 at the flat of an MEP and €750,000 in a suitcase in a Brussels hotel room.
One of those detained was Kaili but her lawyer told Reuters she is extremely upset by the lack of support within the European Parliament.
“She has expressed her complaints over the stance of her European Parliament colleagues,” said lawyer Michalis Dimitrakopoulos.
“She says she feels betrayed when they make her appear as if she had a personal agenda with Qatar and when they hint that she was taking bribes.”
Dimitrakopoulos reiterated that Kaili has vehemently denied the accusations and said a visit to Qatar in October had been approved by the European Parliament and that she was nothing more than a “recipient of European Union orders”.
“Her position is that she was not accepting bribes, she is innocent, Qatar did not have a need for her, it did not need to bribe her, she had nothing to offer to Qatar,” he said.
“Her decision to visit Qatar was not her personal decision, it was a European parliament decision, with the agreement” of the European Commission and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, Dimitrakopoulos added.
The suspicion of investigators in Brussels is that Qatar used money and gifts to influence decisions in the European Parliament. But Doha has fiercely rejected any allegations of misconduct.
“Any association of the Qatari government with the reported claims is baseless and gravely misinformed,” an official said earlier this week.
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