A senior Belgian prosecutor has denounced the judiciary and media's handling of the Qatargate corruption case, arguing that meddling by external actors has threatened suspects' presumption of innocence.
In an interview with RTBF, Frédéric Van Leeuw also claimed that in his decade-long career as a federal prosecutor he has never before witnessed so much "pressure" being put on investigators and suspects.
"There are leaks everywhere, there are foreign magistrates who contact you and who themselves sometimes want to get involved in the investigation," he said.
Van Leeuw drew particular attention to the media "rampage" organised against former investigating judge Michel Claise. In June, Claise recused himself from the investigation after it was discovered that his son had co-founded a business with the son of Belgian MEP Marie Arena, who is herself implicated in the case.
"There is a rampage against the previous investigating judge and his family," he said. "For me it is disgusting, in the sense that this person obviously does not know how to defend himself since he was involved in the investigation."
Bot bedlam
Van Leeuw also highlighted the harmful influence of online "bots", which he claimed were created by foreign actors to harass investigators and suspects and spread misinformation about the case.
"In this case we see a flood of information... some of which I suspect is also funded by other countries," he said. "I notice that some people finance bots to be able to put pressure on these people. We must be careful with the presumption of innocence."
Distancing himself from the views of some European officials, Van Leeuw also disputed the suggestion that Qatargate indicates that corruption is endemic among the European institutions.
"We must not jump to conclusions, it is not [...] that all of a sudden all the parliamentarians and the entire political system are corrupt," he said. "Indeed, if we manage to do this investigation, it is because we still live in a democracy."
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Thus far, Marc Tarabella is the only Belgian MEP who has been charged in connection with the scandal, according to which European officials are believed to have accepted bribes and other illicit favours from the Qatari, Moroccan, and Mauritanian Governments.
Tarabella's colleague, fellow Walloon Socialist Marie Arena, has not been charged, although it was recently reported that Claise (the former investigating judge) twice came close to formally requesting that her parliamentary immunity be lifted.
Last week, Belgian investigators seized €280,000 in cash from an apartment belonging to Arena's son, 32-year-old Ugo Lemaire. The origin of the money is unknown and no direct link with the Qatargate scandal has yet been established.
