Eva Kaili, the left-wing former vice-president of the European Parliament and one of the main actors in the Brussels corruption scandal, who was arrested and charged with corruption in December, is now seeking to overturn the entire investigation with a bold legal twist, arguing that the police and intelligence services acted illegally when they were looking for him.
Months of work by Kaili's lawyers could come to fruition at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Brussels Palace of Justice, where federal prosecutors have convened a meeting to consider the legal challenge.
- writes Magyar Nemzet with reference to the Brussels news portal Politico .
The two lawyers defending Kaili, Sven Mary and Christophe Marchand, claim that the Belgian secret service and the police violated their client's parliamentary immunity and EU laws protecting possible other suspects.
Kaili's lawyers have filed a request for legal review of the proceedings with federal prosecutors, which will launch an investigation into the allegations by three independent judges. Kaili wants to force the court to invite all parties to comment on the case and set a date for the proceedings to continue.
The corrupt politician argues that his parliamentary immunity has been violated and that the criminal proceedings against him should therefore be declared inadmissible.
According to the lawyers, before starting the legal proceedings, the investigators of the corruption scandal in Brussels should have submitted a formal request to the parliament to suspend the immunity of the politician. However, this did not happen.
Instead, Kaili was stripped of her immunity in December when she was found to have been caught in the act of committing a crime. Belgian police raided his apartment in Brussels, arrested him and seized bags containing around 150,000 euros in cash. Other individuals were also targeted and a total of at least one million euros was seized.
If they decide that the evidence was collected illegally, it cannot be used in court
said Vincenzo Domenico Ferraro, Cozzolino's lawyer, who is another suspect in the corruption scandal. He said he and the lawyer of the third MEP accused in the case, Marc Tarabella, were approached to rally behind Kaili's defense. Ferraro confirmed that Cozzolino would join the request.
The subpoena seen by Politico shows that the invitees include 13 current or former suspects in the Brussels scandal, from members of the European Parliament to diplomats from Qatar and Morocco involved in the case.
These include alleged leader and former MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, and two individuals suspected of corrupting Brussels, Qatari Labor Minister Ali Bin Samik Al Marri and Moroccan diplomat Abderrahim Atmoun.
Source: Hungarian Nation
Cover image: MTI/EPA/Dzalal Morsidi
