Politics
Police raid offices of aide to EU lawmaker over Russian propaganda
Belgian police have searched the home and offices of an aide to Dutch European Parliament member Marcel de Graaff over alleged involvement in the promotion of Russian propaganda, according to officials.
The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office said police carried out searches on Wednesday at the Schaerbeek residence of a European Parliament employee and his offices at parliament buildings in both Brussels, Belgium and Strasbourg, France.
“The searches are part of a case of interference, passive corruption and membership of a criminal organization and relates to indications of Russian interference,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
The case centers on allegations that Members of the European Parliament were approached and paid to promote Russian propaganda through a news website called the “Voice of Europe.” This is alleged to have involved politicians from multiple countries.
“There are indications that the European Parliament employee concerned played a significant role in this,” the prosecutor’s office said.
While prosecutors have not yet named the suspect, Dutch lawmaker Marcel de Graaff of the far-right Forum for Democracy (FvD) party confirmed that one of his assistants, Guillaume Pradoura, was the target of Wednesday’s investigation.
“The authorities have not had contact with me or him. To me this comes as a complete surprise,” De Graaff said in a statement on social media. “Also I do not have any involvement whatsoever with a so-called Russian misinformation operation.”
De Graaff added: “As far as I can tell, this action by the authorities appears to be mainly targeted towards the AfD in fear of a good election result.”
The European Parliament election is scheduled to take place across the union in early June.
-
Legal1 week ago
North Carolina Amber Alert: Yesenia Lopez missing from Lenoir County
-
US News1 week ago
3 American and Canadian climbers missing on New Zealand mountain
-
World3 days ago
Passenger tries to forcefully divert Mexican flight to the U.S.
-
US News1 week ago
Police kill chainsaw-wielding man at Illinois senior living facility
-
World7 days ago
WHO dispatches team to investigate deadly unidentified disease in DR Congo
-
Politics2 days ago
Woman killed in crash involving officer responding to Marjorie Taylor Greene bomb threat
-
World6 days ago
DR. Congo officials on “maximum alert” due to unidentified flu-like disease
-
US News5 days ago
Arizona confirms first human cases of H5 bird flu