Andrew Cozzolino pleaded not guilty Justice Commission (Juri) of the European Parliament and officially lifted his immunity. During the hearing, the MEP voted with the Pd “denied the research hypotheses” against the one who defined”something general“. He then formally denied that he had “ever received, directly or indirectly,” both “cash and other forms of assistance” and that he was completely unaware of Mr Giorgi’s and Mr Panzeri’s activities. Belgian prosecutors, which are investigating bribery at the heart of Europe and are calling for the MEP’s immunity to be waived, reported some testimonies from his former staffer Francesco Georgi and especially the passage where he claims it was so “indirectly corrupted”. In one of the first interrogations also the former trade unionist Antonio Panzeri had downloaded Cozzolino: “I have no evidence, but you should check the current President of the Maghreb delegation,” he said.
Cozzolino denies all allegations and also argued in front of his colleagues that he did not authorize his former assistant to send an email from his address before the vote on the Qatar text: “The text of the email,” said he was created and distributed without my prior consent by my former colleague Giorgi”. And according to the document released by his lawyers, “I voted in favor of the key changes proposed to the text that stigmatized Qatar’s behavior.” Cozzolino also answered questions about his relationship Abderrahim Atmoun, Moroccan Ambassador to Poland and identified as Morocco’s emissary in Qatargate. “I know, like many of my other colleagues” and “like other colleagues, I had a warm relationship with him. Our personal relationships were strictly personal and friendly. However, contrary to press reports, I have never tabled an emergency resolution in favor of Morocco,” he said. “The only resolution on Morocco that I have signed is from June 2021”, the MP specified “it contained a harsh criticism of the Moroccan state on migration issues“. Andrea Cozzolino MP, who was elected to the Democratic Party and has now been added to the non-registered list pending investigations by the Belgian authorities into alleged corruption influencing EU decision-making processes, told the Legal Affairs Committee that this was the Fall is “completely in the dark” about “other activities and interests of whatever nature.” Cozzolino underscores the prosecutor’s suspicion against him: “it’s based on Giorgi working for me, having previously been Panzeri’s assistant”. Cozzolino recalled that it was “practice” in Parliament to “recruit civil servants who are accredited by having worked in previous legislatures with other MPs who will not be re-elected or run for re-election.” When I hired Giorgi he was considered one of the brightest young civil servants in Brussels and could also show an important network of institutional relations. And Panzeri, from whose office he came, was one of the most distinguished outgoing Italian MPs, having held office for three consecutive terms from 2004 to 2019.”
According to Cozzolino, the EU institutions have disclosed this “Print” the public opinion generated by the revelations about the investigation, all his “fragility” and “embarrassment”. “For these reasons – he said at the end of the statement made at today’s hearing, which was released by his lawyers after the hearing – first of all, to allow the facts to be verified as quickly and thoroughly as possible and the truth, and no less, to relieve you, dear colleagues, of the burden of ambassadorial decisions on which the weight lies a pressing public opinionin reference to which the fragility and embarrassment of the European political institutions have been understood, which I formally declare to waive the parliamentary immunity granted to me by law”.
Now the plenary session of the European Parliament must express itself: It will vote extraordinary session to lift the immunity of the two MEPs Cozzolino e Marc Tarabella Tuesday 31 January. The official announcement came at the end of the Italian politician’s hearing this morning. The floor will then be passed to the Eurochamber plenary, which should deliver its final position during the February session in Strasbourg. The decision to lift parliamentary immunity, Cozzolino’s lawyer explained, “does not mean that the (judicial) commission or parliament cannot decide otherwise. We will await the assembly on the 13th (the plenary session in February), we have been available to the judge since December and we remain available”. And when asked if Cozzolino now fears an arrest, the lawyer replied: “It’s a somewhat general and rhetorical question, aren’t you afraid in your life that it might happen? It can happen to anyone.”
Meanwhile today the lawyer of the former Vice-President of the European Parliament Eva KailiSpeaking on Greek TV Kontra said: “News and news are coming in” that Pier Antonio Panzeri, the former Qatargate-repentant MEP, will “do to” the Belgian judiciary.new names of Italian, German, Belgian and French MPs“. According to lawyer Michalis Dimitrakopoulosaccording to the agreement signed with the Belgian federal prosecutor Panzeri as an employee of the judiciary “now it is completely unreliable and all he cares about is saving his wife and daughter,” the Greek lawyer added, stressing that “whatever they give him, he will sign”.