Italian social democrat MEP Andrea Cozzolino will not invoke parliamentary immunity for Qatargate but his party in Italy, the Democratic Party (PD/S&D), is ready to vote to lift it if necessary.
Following the arrests of European Parliament Advisor Francesco Giorgi and former Vice-President Eva Kaili, Belgian magistrates are calling for waiving the parliamentary immunity of two MEPs: Italian Andrea Cozzolino and Belgian Marc Tarabella, a move supported by Italian MEPs from the Socialists and Democrats group.
“The Democratic Party will vote in favour of lifting the immunity of Andrea Cozzolino and Marc Tarabella,” said MEP Brando Benifei, deputy member of ‘Juri’, the European Parliament’s legal committee that will have to assess the request for waiver of immunity made by the Belgian judiciary.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola also said that she is entirely at the disposal of the judiciary and ready to cooperate to clarify the facts quickly.
Cozzolino’s lawyers have said that he will not invoke parliamentary immunity and intends to speak in the Parliament regarding Qatargate.
“After having made a formal request to that effect to the judicial authorities proceeding (…), he will also ask the parliamentary assembly to which he belongs to be heard to answer all questions and offer all information and clarifications useful for the ascertainment of the facts,” the lawyers’ note read.
The socialist MEP claims to have carried out his activities as an MEP “in a free and transparent manner, being completely extraneous to the facts of the crime”.
The investigation against Cozzolino and Tarabella was triggered by the statements made during the interrogation of the three protagonists of the scandal: Giorgi, Kaili and Antonio Panzeri.
“I have no evidence but you should check him,” said Panzeri referring to Cozzolino in the first interrogation.
“He is the parliamentarian to whom Giorgi is an assistant,” he continued, adding that he is also “responsible for calling for emergency resolutions,” i.e. determining which human rights dossiers to bring to the attention of the European Parliament.
(Federica Pascale | EURACTIV.it)
Source: euractiv.com
