Pier Antonio Panzeri (born 6 June 1955) is an Italian politician who served as

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

for the North-West with the Democrats of the Left, the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

and Article One, as part of the

Socialist Group The Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group (french: Groupe Socialiste, SOC) is a primarily social-democratic political grouping in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. It was known as the Socialist Group prior to August 2017. The g ...

, from 2004 until 2019. In December 2022, it was reported that Panzeri had been arrested as part of an investigation into corruption and bribery during his time as an MEP alongside other staff and politicians from the

Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) is the political group in the European Parliament of the Party of European Socialists (PES). The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats was officially founded as a Socialist ...

, including then European Parliament Vice-President,

Eva Kaili Eva Kaili ( el, Εύα Καϊλή; born 26 October 1978) is a Greek politician who has been serving as a member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2014. She served as one of fourteen vice presidents of the European Parliament from January 2 ...

Career

Panzeri was born in

Riviera d'Adda Medolago (Bergamasque: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about southwest of Bergamo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,231 and an ...

, province of Bergamo. Between 1995 and 2003, he was General Secretary of the Metropolitan Chamber of Labour of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. From 2003 to 2004, Panzeri was responsible for European policies; he devised and carried out a humanitarian mission to

Belém Belém (; Portuguese for Bethlehem; initially called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão-Pará, in English Our Lady of Bethlehem of Great Pará) often called Belém of Pará, is a Brazilian city, capital and largest city of the state of Pará in t ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and was a promoter and organiser of events to help the civilian victims of the

Yugoslav wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia from ...

. He attended the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

as an observer for

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i- Palestinian issues. From 1996 until 2003, Panzeri worked with the city authorities of Milan,

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, and

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, in the context of an international project to compare experiences regarding economic development,

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

and

welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

, and to devise a future European municipality model.

Member of the European Parliament, 2004–2019

Panzeri became a

in the

2004 elections 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

. In parliament, he was a member of the

group. From 2009 until 2019, Panzeri served on the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET). In 2014, he also joined its

Subcommittee on Human Rights The Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI) is a subcommittee of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament. It is responsible for issues of human rights and democracy, including ensuring their implementation in European Union policy, ...

(DROI). In this capacity, he was also a member of the Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group (DEG), which oversees the Parliament's election observation missions. In addition to his committee assignments, Panzeri served as chairman of the parliament's delegation for relations with the Maghreb countries and the Arab Maghreb Union. He was previously a member of the delegations to the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) is an international organization established in 2005 by the national parliaments of the countries of the Euro-Mediterranean region. It is the legal successor of the Conference on Security and ...

(2009-2014) and for relations with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

(2004-2009). He was a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Integrity (Transparency, Anti-Corruption and Organized Crime) and of the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights. He was also part of the Elie Wiesel Network of Parliamentarians for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities and against Genocide Denial. In 2015, Panzeri nominated Saudi blogger Raif Badawi for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

Founder and president of Fight Impunity

In September 2019, Panzeri founded a human rights NGO in Brussels, "Fight Impunity", and has been president of it since.

December 2022 Arrest

In December 2022 Panzeri was arrested as part of an investigation into corruption and bribery during his time as an MEP alongside other staff and politicians from the

, including then European Parliament Vice-President,

. Shortly after, acting on a European arrest warrant, Italian police detained Panzeri's wife Maria Colleoni and their daughter Silvia, who are in the process of being extradited to Belgium.

's husband Francesco Giorgi, a former parliamentary assistant to Panzeri with whom Panzeri had founded "Fight Impunity", was also arrested. The accusations related to "a Gulf country (influencing) the economic and political decisions of the European parliament". It was later revealed that the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

state in question was

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

. On 17 January 2023 Panzeri signed a

plea bargain A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or '' nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendan ...

with the Belgian Public Prosecutor's Office. The Belgian investigations revealed that the Panzeri also received bribes, gifts and luxury trips from Morocco. As per the reports, the former Italian MEP was bribed by the North African nation for over a decade in an attempt to buy influence in the European Parliament. Panzeri was one of the major links in the EU-Morocco relations, where he also pressed for the EU Commission to allocate more funds for Morocco. Besides, Panzeri also supported Morocco’s trade and fisheries agreement. Panzeri and Morocco’s ambassador to Poland, Abderrahim Atmoun, worked together as co-chairs of the Morocco-EU joint parliamentary committee. Panzeri admitted Atmoun provided financial help for his 2014 electoral campaign, including covering a €50,000 cost of a party in Milan. In 2014, King Mohammed VI awarded Panzeri and Atmoun with the third class “wissam” Alaoui for his services to Morocco. Besides, Atmoun had been secretly making payments to Panzeri using different NGOs. Atmoun in 2019 brokered a deal between Morocco's foreign intelligence agency,

Direction générale des études et de la documentation The General Directorate for Studies and Documentation (, DGED) is the foreign intelligence agency of Morocco, under authority of the Administration for National Defense. It is officially tasked with maintaining national security and the safety of ...

and Panzeri and his colleague Francesco Giorgi, whereby the two would each receive €50,000 a year for lobbying on behalf of Morocco. According to a report by La Libre in January 2023, the Belgian police confiscated a suitcase from Panzeri, which contained an envelope that had a logo of the United Arab Emirates’ Red Crescent.

Other activities

European Endowment for Democracy The European Endowment for Democracy is a European non-governmental organisation with the stated purpose of promoting democracy, particularly in the European Neighbourhood, Turkey and the Western Balkans. It was established in 2013 following a p ...

(EED), Member of the Board of Governors (2014-2019)

Publications

* ''Il lavoratore fuori garanzia'' * ''La democrazia economica''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Panzeri, Antonio 1955 births Living people People from Rivolta d'Adda Politicians from the Province of Bergamo Article One (political party) politicians Democratic Party (Italy) politicians Democrats of the Left politicians Article 1 – Democratic and Progressive Movement MEPs Democratic Party (Italy) MEPs Democrats of the Left MEPs MEPs for Italy 2009–2014 MEPs for Italy 2004–2009 MEPs for Italy 2014–2019 20th-century Italian people 21st-century Italian politicians