Belgian prosecutors have opened an attempted murder investigation after an anti-corruption inspector working on the Qatargate inquiry was severely assaulted in Liège province. Investigators have not established any connection between the attack and her professional duties.
Belgian authorities are investigating a violent attack on a police inspector involved in the continuing Qatargate corruption inquiry at the European Parliament.
The officer was attacked by one or more people in early June while walking near a meadow containing horses in a rural part of Liège province. According to details confirmed by the Liège public prosecutor’s office, considerable violence was used against her, including blows to the face.
She suffered serious injuries and has not been able to return to work. Prosecutors have opened a judicial investigation on suspicion of attempted murder, while a forensic doctor has been appointed to assess the injuries and assist the inquiry.
No suspects have been identified. The prosecutor’s office has also said that investigators have so far found no evidence linking the assault to the inspector’s work on Qatargate. The motive therefore remains unknown, and any suggestion that the attack was intended to obstruct the corruption inquiry remains unsubstantiated.
The officer works on the Belgian investigation into suspected corruption, money laundering and participation in a criminal organisation within the European Parliament. The case became public in December 2022 after police conducted a series of searches in Brussels and recovered approximately €1.5 million in cash.
Some of the money was found in a suitcase at a Brussels hotel, while further sums were recovered from private residences. The investigation concerns allegations that politicians and their associates accepted payments or gifts in return for promoting the interests of Qatar and Morocco within European institutions.
Former Greek MEP and European Parliament vice-president Eva Kaili and former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri became two of the best-known figures associated with the case. Panzeri founded Fight Impunity, a Brussels-based non-governmental organisation examined as part of the alleged influence network.
Qatar has denied wrongdoing. Those placed under investigation are entitled to the presumption of innocence unless convicted by a court.
The European Parliament responded to the initial arrests by adopting a resolution calling for tighter transparency and anti-corruption rules. The measures proposed included stronger asset declarations, greater scrutiny of outside income, restrictions on donations from third countries and tighter regulation of lobbying and parliamentary friendship groups.
The Belgian investigation has continued despite several legal challenges brought by people implicated in the proceedings.
In a formal statement issued in February 2026, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office said the Brussels Court of Appeal had rejected applications seeking to have the prosecution declared inadmissible or certain investigative measures excluded.
The court found that the proceedings were lawful but did not rule on whether there was sufficient evidence to establish guilt. According to prosecutors, the case involved 20 people placed under formal investigation at that stage. The court said the inquiry concerned complex allegations with technical, international and intelligence-related elements.
The investigation expanded again in June when a Belgian investigating judge issued a European arrest warrant for former European commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos. Avramopoulos, who later served on the honorary board of Fight Impunity, denied any direct or indirect involvement in wrongdoing and said he would co-operate with the Greek judicial authorities.
The Liège assault is not the first suspicious incident involving an officer connected to Qatargate.
In 2024, a senior federal police inspector filed a complaint alleging attempted murder by poisoning after becoming seriously ill following an evening in a central Brussels bar with two colleagues. An initial hospital analysis reportedly indicated a high level of amphetamines.
However, the investigation was subsequently closed after further forensic testing by Belgium’s National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology and the hospital found no trace of amphetamines or other drugs in samples taken from the three officers. Prosecutors concluded that there was no evidence that poisoning had occurred.
The assault in Liège is being investigated separately. Its classification as attempted murder reflects the seriousness of the violence and injuries, but does not establish the identity or motive of the attacker.
Until investigators identify a suspect or obtain evidence concerning the reason for the attack, there is no confirmed basis for linking it to Qatargate.
