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Politics

Jailed Greek MEP Kaili Allowed to See Infant Daughter – for 3 Hours

BRUSSELS – Greek Member of the European Parliament Eva Kaili, in a Brussels prison almost a month after being arrested on suspicion of taking bribes from Qatar, will be able to see her infant for three hours at the jail.

The visit on Jan. 6 will take place in a special room in the prison of Haren in Belgium, said Greece’s SKAI TV reporter Efi Koutsokosta, adding that Kaili’s husband, Francesco Giorgi, he 22-month old’s father, will also be present.

Her lawyer Michalis Dimitrakopoulos said she was barred from the visitation in an attempt by authorities to pressure her to confess, although Giorgi reportedly said he was solely responsible for taking bribes and absolved her.

Belgian officials said her earlier requests were denied because of a lack of prison personnel during the holidays, Dimitrakopoulos told Alpha TV, adding that, “It crossed my mind that they were pressuring Kaili to confess, which is why they did not let her see her child.”

Dimitrakopoulos said Amnesty International and other groups pushed the Belgian authorities to approve the visit so that Kaili, who was a Parliament Vice-President before being stripped of that title after being arrested, could see the little girl.

Dimitrakopoulos said that the authorities “have no evidence to substantiate and link Eva Kaili to money and bribery,” said POLITICO.

“The Belgians have found no evidence of the core offense of bribery, so the next-most-serious offense of money laundering does not stand,” he told SKAI TV in a separate interview.

He said the lawyers that her lawyers will ask for restrictive conditions instead of detention after an earlier request to be released with electronic surveillance was denied. “We may have developments even before 22 January, when her detention is scheduled to be reexamined,” he said of the hope.

“Kaili cannot cooperate in this matter with the authorities because she knows nothing about her husband’s delinquent behavior,” Dimitrakopoulos said, as “she did not search her husband’s suitcase and briefcase.”

Police said they found 150,000 euros ($157,604) in a suitcase in the couple’s Brussels home and another 600,000 euros ($630,417) in a suitcase her father was carrying in a hotel there. He was released.

She earlier said she knew nothing about the money and panicked when discovering it and told her father to get rid of it although it wasn’t clear if he knew what was inside of it.

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