The former European Parliament member Maria Arena was charged with participating in a criminal organization amid the Qatargate corruption scandal. Several MEPs and officials are facing charges that they did political favors in the European Parliament for countries such as Qatar and Morocco in exchange for cash and gifts.
Arena, who was interviewed by the investigating judge, had been interviewed by police as a suspect in early 2024. Still, the role she played — or did not play — in the scandal has been one of its most enduring mysteries, since police first swooped on the crime ring in December 2022.
Arena told the newspaper La Libre Belgique that the judge charged her for participating in a criminal organization, but not for corruption or money laundering. Most of the other main defendants have been hit with all three charges. She told the paper that it was a vindication of herself, in light of media reporting that suggested she may have received gifts.
“For two years, I’ve seen my name sullied and denounced in the press with accusations suggesting gifts I supposedly received in exchange for favors — since that’s what corruption is — and finally, the judge did not retain any of that,” Arena told La Libre.
She maintained her innocence, and repeated her claim that the media were out to get her, saying: “In fact, I’m charged because I know other people who themselves are charged for corruption.”
Arena, a Belgian socialist politician, was the chair of European Parliament’s subcommittee on human rights and a leading light of her Socialists and Democrats group when the scandal broke in late 2022.
In January 2023, Arena gave up her role as chair of the human rights committee after media revealed she failed to declare a trip paid by Qatar (for which she blamed her assistant). She remained as an MEP until the 2024 European Parliament election, where she did not stand as a candidate.
The Belgian authorities’ investigation is yet to go to trial and is facing several legal setbacks from the legal teams of other main defendants, such as former Parliament Vice President Eva Kaili and the alleged mastermind of the corruption ring, former MEP Antonio Panzeri.
