The European Union has decided to dismiss Luca Visentini, a senior trade union official implicated in a corruption scandal in the European Parliament related to Qatar, from his post.
The International Trade Union Confederation confirmed today, Saturday, that the organization no longer trusts Vicentini in his role as its general secretary.
A statement said that a new general secretary will be elected at an extraordinary meeting of the International Trade Union Confederation Congress “as soon as practical.”
Vicentini was among the first suspects arrested by the Belgian authorities to investigate whether the decisions of the European Parliament had been affected in favor of Qatar, which hosted the FIFA World Cup, and Morocco in exchange for money and gifts.
Vicentini was accused of accepting payments from an NGO at the center of the influence-peddling investigation.
At the time of his arrest, Visentini said he was “innocent of any wrongdoing” and was later released.
The federation stated that an investigation conducted with external auditors found no evidence that donations from Qatar affected the policies of the trade union body.
The ITUC said the organization had examined the role of donations in the federation’s leadership campaigns as well as financial compliance.
The scandal came to light in December when then-Vice-President of the European Parliament Eva Kayli and former EU deputy Pierre Antonio Panzieri were arrested among a number of other suspects on suspicion of involvement in a criminal organisation, money laundering and corruption.
Source: Shorouk News
