00:00It's been three years since the Qatar corruption scandal
00:03first rocked the European Parliament.
00:05Explosive allegations and a spectacular police operation.
00:10At the time, Belgian authorities claimed that their countries
00:13from Qatar to Morocco had paid hundreds of thousands of euros
00:17to sway and influence decision-making at the core of European democracy.
00:23The face of the scandal, Eva Kiley, young, glamorous
00:26and a former vice president of the European Parliament.
00:30Three years later, she tells Euronews she wants to see justice for herself.
00:35The Belgian's prosecutor's office did not respond to a request for comment made by Euronews.
00:40Well, Eva Kiley, thank you so much for joining us on Euronews for this interview.
00:46It's been three years.
00:47You say for you it's been three very long years.
00:50And now you want to go public and you want to put it all out in the open
00:54and you say you claim and you want justice.
00:58But justice from who?
01:00That's a good question.
01:02I think justice should come based on facts.
01:06And now we have enough facts to understand that this was a baseless case.
01:11Optics were used for justice.
01:14And after three years, I think we have now the clarity to see what actually happened.
01:18OK, so what actually happened?
01:21Because, of course, our viewers remember the scandal.
01:25They remember the investigation.
01:27And they remember that Belgian authorities claimed that third countries from Qatar to Morocco
01:32paid cash to influence decision making and to sway you, essentially.
01:37So, again, what actually happened?
01:40And when you say you want to see justice, is this justice from the Belgian authorities that you're seeking?
01:47So, let's establish the facts.
01:50There were evidence from an investigation of the secret services of Belgium.
01:56And on the wiretops, we can see that there were private funds, not public, private funds for the president of an NGO,
02:04Panseri, that he used his assistance.
02:08He asked them to help him receive it until he declared it.
02:12This is corroborated by wiretops, by notes and by testimonies.
02:16Until coercion methods happened and things started to change.
02:21And, of course, that refers to the moment that, well, you went very public because there was a picture that was printed.
02:31It went viral.
02:32It went global.
02:34There was a piece of luggage.
02:35The Belgian federal police said that that was evidence of cash that was stored in your property.
02:42And this luggage was full of cash.
02:44So, we've seen the picture.
02:47Three years later, you say that this is now set up.
02:50So, tell us, then, what was really in that luggage?
02:53Well, we have, again, we have the evidence and the wiretops.
02:57So, it's about facts, not perception, not optics.
03:01These were private funds that we hear on the wiretops that he wanted to receive it for his work.
03:07The photos were staged as illegal, as illegal funds, to create presumption of guilt.
03:14And now we have more evidence that the prosecutor of Belgium pre-orchestrated not just the leaks, but the story.
03:23So, the target was chosen, the script was pre-written, and the optics replaced the evidence.
03:31Look, that's a very important point, and I want to focus on the idea of the leaks.
03:35Because leaks are, they happen, they are somewhat normal for things to leak in an investigation to the press.
03:43What is different, however, is to leak information to incriminate a person without the full evidence.
03:49So, my question is, where are you framed?
03:54Well, first, we were arrested, accused, punished by detention, based on a hypothesis.
04:01Also, the facts, if the facts matter, were clear that they were not related to corruption.
04:07And now we have the messages between the prosecutor, journalists, and the police, preparing articles before the investigation even started, deciding the titles, and then trying to fit everything with twisted leaks on the press, trying to put coercive methods and intimidation to fit the whole case into the headlines.
04:31This is not leaks, this is pre-orchestration, it's a narrative that was written instead of evidence.
04:38But, if all of this was set up, and you say this was orchestration, and leaks were put out to incriminate you on purpose, what was the motivation?
04:49This is a question that many of our viewers wonder, that we still wonder about.
04:54What was the motivation?
04:55Why you in particular?
04:56Well, this is a very good question to ask, and this would require a trial to get the truth out.
05:03What I can tell you is that there was a public trial, there was a popularity contest, intimidation.
05:09They used my daughter and other families to change testimonies and make accusations.
05:15Why?
05:15The law is not there.
05:17So, the violation of the secrecy and the violation of presumption of innocence is not to protect the guilty, it's to protect the innocent from public courts and from manipulation by media.
05:30So, facts matter.
05:32And the justice was reversed in this case.
05:34I can just tell you that today, we have a Belgian gate where the judge resigned, the prosecutor resigned, the investigator admitted that they were based the case on lies, so it was lies of coercion, and the anti-corruption director is now criminally charged.
05:54Again, these were serious allegations, especially those aimed at the Belgian authorities.
05:58You say this is a Belgian gate.
06:01What does that mean?
06:02What does that mean specifically?
06:04Well, that means that it's not safe for diplomacy or democracy when based on a hypothesis against the evidence, people's lives are destroyed, families are used, even babies, and then we have everybody resigning.
06:20We have the fact, it's not my opinion, what I'm telling you, it's based on facts.
06:25So, I think when you stage photos, when you write the script before the case opens, everybody can understand that being a politician in the European Union, it seems that you can be targeted by doing your work, because I was having an official mandate documented by the president of the parliament and by Borrell, the high representative of the commission, to build bridges with the Gulf countries.
06:52Okay, but I want to go back to the idea of the Belgian gate, because what you say and what you allude is that ultimately, this is a country where authorities frame people, where they plant evidence, where they use methods that are borderline on the legality.
07:13Would you say that Belgium is, in a way, operating like a police state? Is that what you're saying?
07:20Well, we saw what happened with Mogherini. He was accused and arrested before there were evidence.
07:26And now we have a judge, Anzio, who opened a criminal case against the anti-corruption director and is trying to establish what actually really happened against the methods of the Belgians.
07:39This happened in Belgium. Italy also dismissed the case for corruption and opened a criminal investigation against the witness protected by Belgium for lying.
07:50So I can just talk with facts and everybody can make like their own conclusions. I don't need to say what it was, but I can tell you what are the facts.
07:58And still you say what happened was, three years ago, the European Parliament, just to give one example, they decided to make you persona non grata.
08:14You were stripped of your job as vice president of the European Parliament. Your immunity also was stripped.
08:22And at the time, the head of the European Parliament said that she was going to clean up the institution and you became the sort of persona non grata in the institution.
08:32Have you had any contact with the head of the European Parliament since? And what do you make of that reaction?
08:39Of course. And I asked for a public hearing. I asked for any hearing to present the evidence and it was denied.
08:47I even asked a public court hearing to present all the facts. Whoever wants transparency, if they are honest, they wouldn't deny a public hearing.
08:57And she denied the public hearing. The prosecutor denied the public hearing. Whoever denies definitely is not an innocent one.
09:03Three years later, do you feel betrayed by the president of the Parliament, by Roberta Metzola and your own colleagues in the Parliament?
09:10Well, I think personally, I'm expecting justice to be to be given through presenting all the elements at court and to have a fair process.
09:25The process was totally illegal. So now I'm waiting to understand why they use such methods.
09:30But it's not personal for me, the apology. It's to the citizens for losing trust to the system because it was presented as corruption.
09:40And we see that in the end, it was private funds for actually an NGO that was doing a good mission, helping people in Afghanistan, in Sudan.
09:48So we saw how you can reverse justice for political ambition, for geopolitical games and people become victims of this process.
09:58Obviously, we saw a spectacular rate when it comes to Federica Mogherini. She's a former representative for the European Union.
10:07Were you surprised in any way to see another round of arrests like this?
10:13Again, punished without evidence. Optics replace justice and public courts decide about somebody, if he's innocent or not, before facts, only with the titles.
10:24So innocence is destroyed in like a popularity contest because then the parliament and everybody, they try to side with whatever is convenient.
10:34So it's easy to attack the South. It's easy to attack South countries, Arab countries, and create a narrative and a presumption that is the opposite of what the facts have been saying.
10:46So to me, it's very worrying for democracy. And the reason I'm speaking out, even though it causes trouble to me and my family, and even to my case, is because this should not happen to anyone.
11:02And politicians should not be afraid to work on the European institutions.
11:07They should not feel that the system can target and attack anyone.
11:13So I do hope that this would be like a lesson.
11:16And what happened to Mogherini recently, or more ready today, selective political prosecution, this would stop happening after this case is over.
11:26Well, thank you very much for joining us, Eva Kaili.
11:31And in the end, it will be the facts and the evidence that will speak.
11:35This case is still not set for trial, but there's a question as to whether it will make it to trial.
11:40But at some point, if it does, of course, the justice and the law is based on facts.
11:44And ultimately, it will be the facts that will speak for both sides.
11:49Thank you very much.
11:50Thank you, Maria, so much.
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