He says he is completely uninvolved in the allegations. And disappointed by the failure to release which forces him in a prison where the conditions “are horrible”. Niccolò Figà-Talamanca, one of the protagonists of Qatargate, the Belgian investigation into corruption in the European Parliament, tells his version. The former secretary of the NGO “No Peace Without Justice” (Npwj) – who according to the former parliamentary assistant Francesco Giorgi was used to “move money” – he does it, through his lawyers, in a conversation with The printin which he says he had “no role in the creation or management” of the NGO Fight Impunity of former MEP Antonio Panzeri, but that he only “offered the use of the Npwj office as a registered office”. All “transparent and traceable” economic relationships, even those with the consultant Silvia Panzeridaughter of the former deputy and now under house arrest.
Metsola: “More checks were needed on foreign powers. Now I will cut the pension of convicted deputies”
by our correspondent Claudio Tito
Relations with Panzeri and Cozzolino
Figà-Talamanca also rejects the allegations relating to the sequestered apartment in Cervinia, which, he claims, was not purchased with illicit funds. He admits the frequent interactions with the other suspects, from Panzeri to the MEP Andrea Cozzolino up to Giorgi, assistant first of one and then of the other, but all justified by the fact that they were “coordinators of the political groups” and their assistants and with the aim of promoting the defense of human rights in Morocco and Qatar to the EU Parliament: “It was his job and it shouldn’t be a reason to justify pre-trial detention in prison”. The suspicion of the family is that behind the story there is a revenge of the secret services of the UAE.
Conditions in prison
Figà-Talamanca’s thoughts go back to December 9, the day of the arrest: “When they took me away, my wife was abroad and I was terrified for my children. I was taken completely by surprise. I had no idea what was going on, what the charges were, or what they were looking for in the search of my home.” Now the priority battle is to leave prison, where he has been confined for 35 days. On December 14, the Council Chamber had granted the electronic bracelet, but the Prosecutor’s Office appealed and prevailed. “We were very disappointed – explained his Belgian lawyer Barbara Huylebroek – Also because the conditions in the prison of St-Gilles are horrible. After the arrest, he was not able to see his family for two weeks”. Because of the staff strikes, sometimes he wasn’t even guaranteed the possibility of going out into the courtyard for outdoor time: “he’s not human”.