Lawyers for the European Parliament are calling on Belgian judges to reject former Vice-President Eva Kaili’s plea to dismiss criminal charges against her in relation to corruption allegations within the context of the Qatargate investigation.
According to Belgian media L’Echo and De Standaard, Kaili’s lawyers are appealing to the Brussels Indictments Chamber for the charges to be deemed inadmissible. The case is argued on the basis that the Greek MEP’s parliamentary immunity was violated from the start of the investigation in July 2022, five months before her dramatic arrest at her Brussels residence on 9 December 2022.
Lawyers for the European Parliament, the civil party in this case, shared their conclusions on Wednesday. They argue firstly, parliamentary immunity is "in no way a personal privilege granted to the member of Parliament and does not place them above the law", and secondly, it does not "apply to the criminal investigation phase, but only to the main proceedings."
This latter point is decisive as the federal prosecutor initially cautiously chose not to initiate an investigation against Eva Kaili or any other MEP, before the flagrant offence on 9 December 2022 gave them jurisdiction.
They also argue that not lifting immunity is a "hindrance to the exercise of public action and not a cause of inadmissibility", and consequently, no investigative actions should be excluded.
