Four people were charged on Sunday for their alleged involvement in the major case.

Qatar has dismissed “baseless and gravely misinformed” allegations of misconduct, amid reports accusing the Gulf state of being involved in a recent corruption scandal that has shaken the European parliament.

“Qatar categorically rejects any attempts to associate it with accusations of misconduct. Any association of the Qatari government with the reported claims is baseless and gravely misinformed,” Doha’s mission to the EU said in a statement on Sunday.

The diplomatic office added that the Gulf state “works through institution-to-institution engagement and operates in full compliance with international laws and regulations.”

The statement comes amid developing reports over an alleged corruption case in the European parliament involving bribes to attempt to influence its opinion.

Authorities in Brussels arrested six people and seized at least €600,000 in cash on Friday as Belgian authorities said they were probing corruption and money laundering, per a Reuters report.

Qatar was accused in various western media reports of being involved in the case. This came after the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office sent a media statement saying the police “suspected a Gulf country of influencing economic and political decisions of the European parliament.”

“This is done by paying large sums of money or offering large gifts to third parties with a significant political and/or strategic position within the European parliament,” an official privy to the matter told Reuters in an emailed statement.

On Sunday, four out of the six people detained were charged by a Belgian judge, all of whom have not been named by any reports.

“They are charged with participation in a criminal organisation, money laundering and corruption. Two persons have been released by the investigating judge,”the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement, as quoted by AFP .

A judicial source told AFP that European parliament vice-president Eva Kaili is among the four.

A source also told Reuters on Sunday that Qatar was the Gulf state, a claim that Doha denied in its public statement.

While none of the suspects have been named, Kaili has been stripped of all her powers at both the EU and Greek socialist party PASOK, raising suspicion over her possible involvement.

Despite this, Kaili remains an MEP, which provides her with immunity from criminal prosecution.

“In the light of the ongoing judicial investigations by Belgian authorities, President Metsola has decided to suspend with immediate effect all powers, duties and tasks that were delegated to Eva Kaili in her capacity as vice-president of the European parliament,” a spokesman for European parliament president Roberta Metsola said in a statement, as quoted by the Financial Times.

Meanwhile, Belgian Socialist party member Marc Tarabella confirmed that his house was searched on Saturday without any detainments. Authorities seized his mobile phone and a computer.

“The justice system is doing its work of gathering information and investigating, which I find totally normal. I have absolutely nothing to hide and I will respond to all questions of the investigators,” he said in a statement.

Anti-Qatar campaign

Several reports have pointed to Kaili’s stance on Qatar’s major labour reform, which she praised ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup as western media failed to report on it. 

The reports have also mentioned Kaili’s speech at the parliament where she said that the tournament in Qatar proves “how sports diplomacy can achieve a historical [sic] transformation of a country.”

Kaili is among a number of officials who applauded Qatar’s major reforms and its preparations to host the major tournament amid a flood of criticism, mainly driven by Western media outlets. 

Since the moment it won the bid to host the World Cup and during the event, the criticism persisted, pointing to its alleged human rights abuses of migrant workers’ and its policy on the LGBTQ+ community.

The criticism came as officials globally and millions of fans applauded the smooth atmosphere in Qatar, where tourists from all backgrounds are enjoying the matches while learning about the Arab region.

Last month, the media misquoted World Cup chief Hassan Al-Thawadi’s interview with Piers Morgan, claiming that he confirmed that hundreds of migrant workers died in preparation for the event.

Following this, Morgan himself took to social media to dispel the misquoted remarks.

The Supreme Committee has consistently stated that since the World Cup’s stadium construction started in 2014, there have only been three migrant work-related fatalities  and 37 non-work-related deaths.

The misreported figure added to many other headlines that have been dismissed by officials as “sensationalist” and “racist”.

Speaking to New York Times (NYT) on Thursday, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said Doha was “subject to something unprecedented.”

“This situation, especially given the long period since the award [of the World Cup bid to Qatar in 2010] and also the attitude and the behavior of some media toward Qatar was quite negative and disappointing from our perspective,” Sheikh Mohammed told NYT in the interview, published on Monday.

Commenting on workers’ rights, Sheikh Mohammed stressed that Qatar “never claimed that the conditions of the migrant laborers are perfect.”

“We opened our doors for the NGOs. There is no country in the region that adopts an open-door policy, like what Qatar did. Organisations like Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International, they can come here, they can publish their reports here. They cannot do it in some other places,” the senior Qatari diplomat said.