Former Vice-President of the European Parliament Eva Kaili has filed an appeal against a request from the European prosecutor's office to lift immunity due to possible violations in the calculation of salaries of assistants, according to POLITICO..

The Greek MEP has been in jail since early December on preliminary charges of membership in a criminal organization, money laundering and corruption as part of a massive investigation into Qatar's lobbying operation in Brussels known as Cathargate..

However, this appeal relates to another case opened a few days after Kylie's arrest - to remove her immunity in connection with possible illegal payments to assistants..

[see_also ids\u003d"

The European Prosecutor's Office said the request to lift the immunity of Kylie, as well as another Greek MEP, Maria Spiraki, was based on a report by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) on "

Spyros Pappas, the lawyer who appealed to the European General Court, called the prosecutor's decision " The request to lift immunity concerns facts of past years that do not require mandatory automatic investigation, he said..

The speaker of the European Prosecutor's Office confirmed that the legal service of the institution was analyzing the appeal, but refrained from commenting on its content..

The appeal alleges that Kylie's case did not meet the first condition for waiving MEP immunity of being caught committing an illegal act because the crimes in question took place between 2014 and 2020.

Immunity can also be waived if a potential suspect is deemed to interfere with a full investigation.. This condition was also not met, the lawyers said, since OLAF was already investigating this case, so Kylie cannot interfere with the investigation..

On December 13, the European Parliament removed the Greek MP Eva Kaili, accused of corruption, from the position of Vice-President of the Assembly..