Few people had not heard about a high-profile investigation called Kazakhgate, which involved Belgium, France, as well as the famous businessman Patokh Chodiev. However, few people had heard how the case actually ended and who was the first to carry the blame for the international scandal. Read more about the true role of the Parliament of Belgium below.
Start of Kazakhgate: Patokh Chodiev
During the investigation of the Kazakhgate case, the name of Patokh Chodiev will surely come up as the main instigator of the scandal. And although this assumption is fundamentally wrong, the scandal really began with a businessman.
In 2011, a mining businessman was really accused of illegally obtaining Belgian citizenship, as well as influencing the adoption of a new guilty plea. It was assumed that France put pressure on Belgian deputies to help billionaire Chodiev. But was the businessman guilty? Spoiler: no.
According to a 500-page report formed by a specially convened commission, the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (PIC) Chodiev was not involved in the adoption of the law on a guilty plea and did not violate the procedure for obtaining Belgian citizenship.
Patokh Chodiev: How was the billionaire pulled into this case?
A 16-month PIC investigation determined that Patokh Chodiev was only collateral damage in the domestic political struggle. The main instigators were the Green Party and the Socialist Party, which had long been preparing to shift influence in the Belgian parliament.
The leaders of these parties wanted to discredit several ruling centrist parties N-VA, MR and CD&V, which were in the coalition in 2016, and were also a driving force in parliament to introduce a new law on the plea bargain in the 2011 year.
A similar opinion is also shared by Chodiev’s lawyer, Pascal Vanderveeren. According to him, throughout the investigation, the PIC received confidential data that confirmed the involvement of Belgian deputies in the Kazakhgate case.
Today it can be concluded that the mining billionaire was just a collateral damage in the domestic political struggle. And although the commission found all the charges against the businessman to be false and unfounded, Chodiev’s lawyer is sure that the Belgian deputies caused serious economic and moral damage to his client.
Kazakhgate: Who is behind this scandal?
As mentioned above, Kazakhgate turned out to be an internal political struggle of several parties in the Belgian Parliament.
Belgium’s vice-prime minister, David Clarinval, regretfully acknowledged that this was not the first such case when Belgian deputies involved the media and the international community to fight personal enemies. “This is not the first time that politicians have convened the creation of an independent commission to investigate the business they need. If the investigation found unsatisfactory results, then in their opinion the commission was also corrupt in a conspiracy with the government,”- said Clarinwal.
In David Clarinval’s opinion, Belgian deputies only undermine public confidence in the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry by such an action.
The PIC in Belgium is a powerful tool that is created to investigate important cases and should serve as an audit of a government authority. They are empowered by an investigating judge and can interrogate witnesses, as well as seize property and documents.
Until 2009, in 30 years, the committee was convened only 15 times, which proves its historical importance. However, only in the period of 2016-2017 four committees were convened.
And although the committee decided that international affairs involving Chodiev turned out to be just props. It can be concluded that Belgian politicians do not hesitate to use the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry as a battlefield for several years. Moreover, they involve well-known businessmen like Patokh Chodiev, who, although they prove their lack of commitment, still suffer economic losses.
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