Maltese European Parliament President Roberta Metsola became the fist president of the Parliament to participate in a police raid pertaining to suspicions of criminal corruption.
The youngest president in the Parliament’s history’s involvement in the raid, which involved large bags of cash and accusations that both Morocco and Qatar sought to buy influence within legislature, was highlighted in International news platforms such as ‘The New York Times’.
Metsola told the news platform that, despite nothing possibly preparing for what she experienced, she had to do what was needed.
On the 9th of December 2022, Belgian police conducted various raids and arrests in Brussels over accusations of a criminal corruption scheme funded by Qatar and Morocco.
The plot aimed at influencing the proceedings of the EP by bribing both current and former lawmakers as pressure mounted for them to condemn Qatar’s human rights record. The raids came with the World Cup 2022 in full swing.
Both Morocco and Qatar denied the allegations against them, with the Belgian finding €1.5 million in bags in the homes and other hiding places of various members of parliament.
Two days after the arrests, the President was informed that she was bund by local law to be physically present in order for the Belgian police to raid the one of a European lawmaker implicated in the case.
Metsola flew from Malta to Brussels and then to Belgium so that she herself could knock on the door, accompanied by armed officers, of Belgian lawmaker Marc Tarabella.
#MaltaDaily
