ATHENS: Greek MEP Eva Kaili plans to return to her European Parliament duties next week after being freed from house arrest pending trial, her lawyer said Friday.
“Next week, she will be at the European Parliament to carry out her duties,” Kaili’s Greek lawyer Michalis Dimitrakopoulos told Greece’s Skai TV.
She will also ask the chamber to determine whether her surveillance, arrest and incarceration had violated her rights as an MEP, Dimitrakopoulos said.
Prosecutors on Thursday allowed the 44-year-old former newsreader to remove an electronic ankle tag and freed her from house arrest pending trial.
Formerly a rising star in the European Parliament, Kaili has been stripped of her former role as vice president and excluded from her political group.
She was arrested in Brussels in December by police investigating alleged graft in the European Parliament, before being released to house arrest in April.
She denies all charges.
Several more European politicians and parliamentary aides were arrested and charged as part of Belgian investigation, but now all but one have been freed from house arrest.
Investigators allege that Belgian former MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, who is cooperating with the inquiry, ran a ring distributing bribes to promote the interests of Qatar and Morocco.
Both governments angrily deny playing any role.
The scandal erupted when police raided several properties in Brussels and seized at least 1.5 million euros in cash stored in suitcases and bags.
Dimitrakopoulos on Friday said Panzeri was the “mastermind” and that Kaili’s fingerprints were not found on the money seized by police.
“She believes she will be acquitted... if the case even gets to trial,” he said.
Graft case Kaili to return to MEP duties: lawyer
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Graft case Kaili to return to MEP duties: lawyer
- “Next week, she will be at the European Parliament to carry out her duties," Kaili's Greek lawyer Michalis Dimitrakopoulos told Greece's Skai TV
- She will also ask the chamber to determine whether her surveillance, arrest and incarceration had violated her rights as an MEP
Magnitude 6.2 earthquake strikes Japan’s Chugoku region
- Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said there were no irregularities at the plant
TOKYO: An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.2 hit the western Chugoku region of Japan on Tuesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, followed by a series of sizeable aftershocks.
The epicenter of the first earthquake was in eastern Shimane prefecture, the agency said, adding that there was no danger of a tsunami. Chugoku Electric Power operates the Shimane Nuclear Power Station, about 32 km (20 miles) away.
Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said there were no irregularities at the plant.
A spokesperson said the utility was checking on any impact on the plant’s No.2 unit, which has been operating since December 2024 after being shut down following the March 2011 disasters in Fukushima.
Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world’s most seismically active areas.
The earthquake had a seismic intensity of upper-5 on Japan’s 1-7 scale, strong enough to make movement difficult without support.
West Japan Railway said it had suspended Shinkansen bullet-train operations between Shin-Osaka and Hakata following the quake.
