Former European Parliament vice-president Eva Kaili and her husband Francesco Giorgi have filed a criminal complaint for defamation in Milan against ex-MEP Antonio Panzeri, according to Corriere della Sera. Panzeri’s statements as a “repentant” or cooperating witness are part of the Belgian investigation into the Qatargate affair.
Corriere writes that Kaili and Giorgi appeared before Milan’s chief prosecutor Marcello Viola and deputy Eugenio Fusco to lodge the complaint, prepared with their lawyer Domenico Aiello. After giving statements for more than three hours, Kaili said she was “very proud to be in Italy, where I feel at home,” and thanked her counsel.
The move comes almost three years after Qatargate first erupted in Brussels, triggering sweeping inquiries into alleged foreign influence and cash-for-favours schemes. Kaili and Giorgi’s filing targets Panzeri personally over remarks attributed to him in Belgian case files.
Source: Corriere della Sera via ertnews.gr.