Qatargate: Court to rule on Panzeri daughter extradition

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 20 - A Brescia court on Tuesday is set to decide on whether to approve a request by Belgian prosecutors for the extradition of the daughter of Italian former MEP Antonio Panzeri in relation to the so-called Qatargate scandal after giving the all-clear on Monday for his wife Maria Dolores Colleoni to be extradited.
    Panzeri, who is in jail in Belgium, his daughter Silvia and Colleoni are accused of involvement in alleged efforts by Morocco and Qatar to condition EU affairs via bribery.
    Panzeri has been charged with corruption along with fellow Italians Francesco Giorgi , an assistant to Democratic Party (PD) MEP Andrea Cozzolino and Niccolò Figà-Talamanca, the secretary general of the No Peace Without Justice NGO.
    Greek MEP Eva Kaili, who was removed from her position as European Parliament vice president after the scandal exploded, has been charged too.
    Kaili is Giorgi's partner.
    A total of around 1.5 million euros in cash has been seized by Belgian prosecutors from the homes of Kaili and Panzeri and from a suitcase in the possession of Kaili's father in relation to the case.
    According to a report by Belgian newspaper Le Soir Kaili, who has been in jail since December 9, has confessed to telling her father to hide packs of banknotes and to being aware of alleged illegal conduct by Giorgi.
    The report said Panzeri had admitted involvement too and said he had alleged that Belgian MEP and fellow Socialist Marc Tarabella had benefited from 'gifts' from Qatar.
    Panzeri, whose wife and daughter are currently under house arrest in Italy, is a 67-year-old member of the left-wing Article One party and of the directorate of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) alliance, the oldest European caucus.
    He was an MEP for three terms from 2004 to 2019, serving as chair of the subcommittee on human rights..
    A European warrant for the arrest of Panzeri's wife and daughter said that the former MEP "seems to have developed and driven...
    a vast fraudulent organization" (ANSA).