The Belgian judge who until recently presided over the Qatargate corruption probe withdrew an international arrest warrant for a high-ranking Qatari official in exchange for Doha's help securing the release of a Belgian aid worker detained by Iran, Le Soir reports.
According to two anonymous sources cited by the newspaper, Michel Claise withdrew the arrest warrant for Qatari Labour Minister Ali bin Saeed bin Samikh Al-Marri on 16 May this year, just two months after it had been issued via Interpol, the global police organisation.
The sources claim that the withdrawal represented an "exchange" for Qatar's support negotiating the release of Olivier Vandecasteele, who had been held by the Iranian authorities since February 2022 on espionage charges.
Vandecasteele was freed just twelve days after the arrest warrant was reportedly rescinded, on 26 May. RTBF has since claimed to have corroborated Le Soir's reporting.
Olivier Vandecasteele meeting his family upon his return to Belgium. Credit: Belga / Didier Lebrun
Al-Marri is believed to have played a central role in the Qatargate affair. Together with his "right-hand man", Algerian national Boudjellal Bettahar, Al-Marri allegedly funnelled hundreds of thousands of euros in bribes to MEPs and their parliamentary assistants.
According to Francesco Giorgi, a key figure in the case who previously worked as parliamentary assistant for Italian former MEP Antonio Panzeri, instructions from the Qatari Government were channelled through Al-Marri to Giorgi, who then passed them onto Panzeri.
Both Panzeri and Giorgi have previously admitted to having solicited bribes from Doha.
"The person who represents Qataris is the Minister of Labour Ali bin Samikh Al Marri, who was called 'the Doctor'," Giorgi told Belgian investigators shortly after his arrest in December last year.
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"The minister's right-hand man was the Algerian [Boudjellal Bettahar]," he added. "I received instructions from the Minister and the Algerian and I passed them to Panzeri."
Claise, who declined to comment on the story, oversaw the Qatargate probe from December until mid-June this year, when news broke that his son had previously co-founded a business with the son of Marie Arena: a Belgian MEP who is herself implicated in the scandal. She has not been formally charged and denies any involvement in the case.
The resulting allegations of a conflict of interest led Claise to recuse himself from the investigation.
The Qatargate scandal has thus far led to charges being brought against one sitting Belgian MEP, Marc Tarabella, as well as several other current and former senior European officials, including Greek former Vice President of the European Parliament Eva Kaili, with whom Giorgi has a young child.
Unlike Giorgi, Kaili denies any involvement in the affair.
