European Parliament strips Greek MEP Eva Kaili of VP role amid Qatar corruption scandal
13 December 2022, 21:10
The European Parliament has stripped Greek MEP Eva Kaili of her vice president role amid a Qatar corruption scandal.
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European lawmakers acted rapidly to isolate Ms Kaili, despite her denying any wrongdoing.
She was accused of accepting bribes from Qatar in one of the biggest corruption scandals to hit Brussels.
"There will be no sweeping under the carpet. Our internal investigation will look at what has happened and how our systems can be made more watertight," European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said.
It came after 625 MEPs voted to deprive Ms Kaili of her VP role, with only one voting against and two abstaining.
Her lawyer in Greece, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, said on Tuesday that she was innocent.
"She has nothing to do with financing from Qatar, nothing, explicitly and unequivocally," he told Open TV in a first public comment.
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Kaili, who is in Belgian police detention, was one of 14 vice presidents in the parliament.
Belgian prosecutors charged her and three Italians at the weekend with taking part in a criminal organisation, money laundering and corruption, according to Reuters.
A source close to the investigation has said they were believed to have pocketed money from Qatar, current host of the soccer World Cup.
The energy-rich Gulf state has denied any wrongdoing.
