Agencies – As part of the agreement that Antonio Panzeri has madewith the Belgian authorities, he is expected to testify tomorrow, giving evidence that is estimated to “burn” many of those involved.
Information so far says that Pierre Antonio Panzeri, the alleged mastermind of Qatargate, will be asked to tell the whole truth to the Belgian judicial authorities, without hiding a single thing. This is because, if he does not, he “breaks the agreement” he has made with the Belgian prosecutors to reduce his sentence.
Two factors that pressured Panzeri
Panzeri is going to give new names involved in the scandal of Qatar and Morocco”, said a source to Euractiv, who, in fact, mentioned that the Belgian authorities had also made a proposal for an agreement similar to Pantseri’s to Eva Kaili, with however, she refuses to plead guilty. “Politically, she would have finished, but legally, she would have received a better sentence […] she could have continued her life in the private sector,” the source noted.
Until now, the Italian had kept his silence, but there were two factors that put intense pressure on him, causing him to change his tactics. The former MEP was allegedly pressured by the decision of an Italian court to extradite his daughter to Belgium, but also by the fact that both MEP Eva Caili and her partner, Francesco Giorgi – former Panzeri assistant – put all the blame on him from the day they were arrested. In the previous days, the information from Brussels spoke of Eva Kaili’s extensive reference to Pancheri’s statements to the Belgian authorities and indeed in a negative way.
What Panzeri is committed to revealing
With this agreement, he undertakes to inform the investigators and in particular the Court about: – the mode of operation,
– financial arrangements with third countries,
– the financial structures that have been created,
– the beneficiaries of the structures and the advantages offered,
– the involvement of people known or unknown in the case, including the identity of the people he admits to corrupting,
According to the memorandum signed today, Pierre Pancheri’s sentence will be the prescribed one, but limited. It will include imprisonment, a fine and confiscation of all acquired property benefits, worth one million euros.
This is the second time in the history of Belgian justice, after the application of the so-called “pentiti” law (repentant, referring to the Italian law allowing investigations into mafias) that this procedure has resulted in the signing of a memorandum. In both cases it is a strategy applied by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office.
What Dimitrakopoulos said about Pantseri’s testimony
In the main news bulletin of ANT1, on Monday (23/01), one of Eva Kaili’s lawyers, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, spoke about the expected rapid developments regarding Qatargate.
As Mr. Dimitrakopoulos mentioned, Eva Kaili does not feel any concern about what Antonio Panzeri is rumored to be preparing to testify tomorrow. “Why did Pancheri now decide to tell everything?
His wife and daughter are involved in the scandal, so in order to save his family he is able to involve political figures from other countries and sign whatever they ask of him. People who haven’t been heard yet, from countries like England, France and maybe even Greece”, initially stressed Mr. Dimitrakopoulos.
“Madalena Kaili is very upset”
He underlined, in fact, that what Mrs. Kaili might have known about Pantseri, she knew only through her husband. “He didn’t know about the transactions Pancheri had either with Qatar or with other countries.
He did not ask for anything from Kaili through her husband,” clarified Mr. Dimitrakopoulos, stressing that the Belgian prosecutors cannot “bind” the accusation of bribery on Ms. Kaili because there is no evidence. He also referred to how Eva Kaili feels about her husband, saying that he is the father of her child, but, as she also said in court, “he has been betrayed, she feels that she trusted him and put the problem in her house”.
Finally, Mr. Dimitrakopoulos also responded to the Politico publication, which spoke of an attempt by Eva Kaili’s sister to delete her company from the EU’s transparency files. “Madalena Kaili is very upset. The article is completely inaccurate, we will send a response to Politico. This removal from the EU transparency list was not done at the request of Maddalena Kaili, but this was done by the EU itself because there was no activity, the lawyer clarified.