Secret services 'hang over' Qatargate-Cozzolino lawyers

(ANSA) - ROME, FEB 28 - Lawyers representing Italian MEP Andrea Cozzolino said Tuesday intelligence services have been playing a role in the so-called Qatargate bribery scandal that their client is accused of being involved in.
    Cozzolino was in court in Naples on Tuesday for a hearing regarding a request by Belgian prosecutors for his extradition over the case of alleged attempts by Qatar and Morocco to influence EU affairs via bribery.
    Cozzolino, who has been suspended by Italy's centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and suspended himself from the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) caucus in the European Parliament, denies any wrongdoing.
    The case presents an "increasingly opaque scenario behind which a parallel, underground foreign policy match is being played and, in the background of which, the actions of the secret services continue to hang," Cozzolino's lawyers said.
    The defence lawyers said this gave "good reason to doubt that the Belgian judicial system can guarantee Cozzolino a fair trial".
    Greek MEP Eva Kaili, who was removed from her position as European Parliament vice president after the scandal exploded and has been in jail since December 9, has been charged too in relation to the case, along with her Italian partner Francesco Giorgi.
    Former Italian MEP Antonio Panzeri, a central figure in the scandal, has started to cooperate with Belgian prosecutors after reaching a plea bargain for a one-year jail term.
    Giorgi is also Panzeri's former assistant.
    Another Italian under investigation over the case, Niccolo' Figa'-Talamanca, the secretary general of the No Peace Without Justice NGO, has been released from prison.
    Two other MEPs, Italo-Belgian Marc Tarabella and Italy's Maria Arena, are also implicated in the case. (ANSA).