Fight Impunity, what it does and who is in Panzeri’s association overwhelmed by the Qatar funds scandal
Among the honorary members of the association chaired by the former Pd and Article 1 MEP, Antonio Panzeri, there are also Emma Bonino and Federica Mogherini. All about Fight Impunity and the Qatar funds case revealed by Belgian newspapers
Judicial storm in the European Parliament: socialist MEPs involved.
Yesterday morning the Belgian police arrested the former MEP of the Pd Antonio Panzeri, who later moved to Article One, his assistant in the past legislature Francesco Giorgi, Luca Visentini, who was recently elected secretary general of the International Confederation of trade unions (Ituc) and Niccolò Figà-Talamanca director of the NGO No Peace Without Justice which operates in Brussels. The news was anticipated by the Belgian newspapers Le Soir and Knack , which in the evening extended the list of those arrested by adding Eva Kaili, Giorgi's partner, a Greek socialist and one of the fourteen vice-presidents of the European Parliament.
THE NEWS OF THE BELGIAN NEWSPAPERS ABOUT PANZERI AND FIGHT IMPUNITY
The first to break the news of the investigation that triggered the avalanche that threatens to overwhelm the entire Socialist and Democrat group, as mentioned, were the Belgian newspapers Le Soir and Knack . The investigation, now in the hands of the investigating judge Michel Claise who in the next 48 hours will have to decide whether to validate the detentions, is for an alleged case of corruption, criminal organization and money laundering.
WHAT THE PROSECUTOR SAYS
"For several months, the investigators of the judicial police have suspected that a Gulf state has tried to influence the economic and political decisions of the European Parliament", confirmed the federal prosecutor in Brussels without however providing either the name of the country or even less the identities of the people involved. Corruption allegedly occurred "by paying large sums of money and offering important gifts to third parties with an important political or strategic position within the European Parliament", explained the prosecutor's office.
CORRUPTION INVESTIGATIONS IN QATAR
According to informed sources, reports the Agi agency, the investigations focus on Qatar and in particular on the organization of the current World Cup. As part of the operation, conducted by the anti-corruption squad of the judicial police, sixteen homes were searched (including that of the vice president Kaili) and around 600,000 euros in cash were seized, of which 500,000 were found – again according to the media mentioned – in the home of Panzeri, president of the Fight Impunity association, dedicated to the fight against impunity for serious human rights violations or crimes against humanity.
ACCUSATIONS AND SEARCHES: THE ROLE OF PANZERI
Among the 16 searches there is also Fight Impunity, the NGO founded in September 2019 by Antonio Panzeri, once his experience in the EU Parliament is over, to fight human rights violations. Visentini was also linked to the NGO, Corriere della Sera comments: “The former secretary of the Milan Chamber of Labor has always maintained ties and a certain influence, especially in the leftmost component of the S&D group. The Socialist group is "shocked by the accusations" and makes it known that it has asked for "the suspension of work on any dossiers and votes in the plenary concerning the Gulf States, in particular the liberalization of visas and scheduled visits". In Strasbourg, at last November's Plenary, a debate was held on the situation of human rights and workers in Qatar after the controversy over the treatment of foreign employees who contributed to the construction of the stadiums for the World Cup and for several parliamentarians it could have been more strict. The League goes on the attack: "After years of accusing rivals, the Pd must immediately clarify to the Italians"".
THE ROLE OF PANZERI'S NGO FIGHT IMPUNITY
So at the center of the scandal – Il Giornale underlines – is the NGO Fight Impunity, chaired by Panzeri: on Friday the headquarters was raided by the Belgian police. On its website, Fight Impunity presents itself by underlining that the purpose of the non-profit association is based on the "need to promote the fight against impunity for serious human rights violations and crimes against humanity by having the principle of accountability as a central pillar of the architecture of international justice”. Despite the existence of mechanisms at national and regional level to supervise the responsibilities of the countries and individuals concerned, the organization led by Panzeri – former secretary of the Chamber of Labor in Milan from 1995 to 2003 and then EU parliamentarian until 2019 – has turned the spotlight on the need to "strengthen existing actions and measures in order to increase their effectiveness".
THE PURPOSES OF THE PANZERI ASSOCIATION
In order to close the impunity gap, Panzeri's foundation proposes itself as a means to address the most sensitive issues in the context of international human rights law, starting from extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances, without forgetting the most vulnerable groups ( children, young people, women, minorities and displaced persons). And again: "This includes the definition of solutions to eliminate possible obstacles for victims to access justice and to promote international judicial systems, including transitional justice where responsibility is most at risk" .
THE HONORARY MEMBERS OF FIGHT IMPUNITY
Founded in September 2019, Fight Impunity is based in Brussels, in Rue Ducale – near the US embassy – and the board of honorary members includes well-known faces from Italian and European politics, such as Emma Bonino (former European commissioner and leader of More Europa with Benedetto Della Vedova) and Federica Mogherini (former High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy). Also present were the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner Denis Mukwege, former European Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos and former French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/fight-impunity-cosa-fa-e-chi-ce-nellassociazione-di-panzeri-travolta-dallo-scandalo-dei-fondi-del-qatar/ on Sat, 10 Dec 2022 09:55:29 +0000.