Wednesday 19 July the Belgian police he searched the home of Belgian MEP Maria Arena of the European Socialist Party and five other properties connected to her family, as part of the investigation into the large case of suspected corruption by Qatar and Morocco (or “Qatargate”, as it is often called). Arena has not yet been questioned or formally investigated, and the Belgian authorities have not asked for the waiver of her parliamentary immunity.
Arena denied having committed any wrongdoing, but his name had already been mentioned in connection with the scandal in the Italian and Belgian press. Earlier this year, due to growing attention to her potential involvement, she resigned from her role as chair of the subcommittee on human rights. Her resignation had come the same day as the online newspaper Politico had written that Arena had failed to declare a paid trip to Qatar in May 2022.
Arena also played a role in the resignation of the Belgian magistrate in charge of the investigation, Michel Claise, who had asked to leave office due to allegations of conflicts of interest involving both sons. The lawyers of another main suspect, Belgian MEP Marc Tarabella, had discovered that Claise’s son belonged to a trade association in the medical cannabis sector, whose president was Arena’s son and that the MEP, in 2019, had organized an event in the European Parliament sponsored by their trade association. However, the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office clarified that Claise’s renunciation of the case had taken place “despite the absence of actual elements that could cast doubt on the integrity of each person involved”.