A three-judge tribunal will decide on Wednesday whether four suspects charged and detained in a fraud scandal that has rocked the European Parliament remain in custody during the investigation or can be released.
The investigation, during which Belgian police uncovered vast amounts of cash while searching the homes and offices of EU lawmakers, parliamentary assistants and NGO activists, has sparked one of the biggest corruption scandals to hit Brussels.
Prosecutors suspect Greek MEP Eva Kaili and three others accepted bribes from World Cup host Qatar to influence EU policy making.
Kaili’s lawyer, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, told Reuters on Tuesday that her client was innocent and that Qatari authorities had also denied any wrongdoing.
The case has shocked the European Parliament and could make a dent in its efforts to present itself as a solid moral compass that guides European governments and those of other continents in matters of ethics and human rights.
Kaili, as well as his colleague Francesco Giorgi, who is a parliamentary assistant, Niccolo Figa-Talamanca, general secretary of a campaign group in favor of the rule of law, and Pier Antonio Panzeri, former deputy and founder of another non-profit campaign group They have been detained since Friday.
They will appear before the judge around 11:40 (1040 GMT) and the hearing will last one or two hours, according to a judicial source.
Reuters could not reach Giorgi, Figa-Talamanca and Panzeri or their lawyers for comment. The nonprofit organizations they work with did not respond to emailed requests for comment.
Their release would be conditional on not contacting the other defendants and not leaving Belgium, according to the source.
On Tuesday, the European Parliament voted to remove Kaili, a 44-year-old Greek socialist MEP, from the post of her vice-president. The legislators have asked the MEP to leave the Parliament.
The president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, declared that the assembly was carrying out internal investigations and that it would strengthen the rules on lobbyists and ensure better supervision of contacts between MEPs and foreign governments.
Belgian prosecutors said they had suspected for more than four months that a Persian Gulf state was trying to buy influence in Brussels. Although prosecutors did not publicly name any state, a source familiar with the case said it was Qatar.