On Monday evening, 13 February 2023, there will be an agenda item listed for the Plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on “EU funding allocated to NGOs implicated in the recent revelations of corruption and protection of the Union’s financial interests”.
No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) notes two questions for written answers, submitted on 24 and 25 January by Gunnar Beck and Marco Zanni respectively, that appear to have prompted this session, explicitly linking No Peace Without Justice to Qatargate.
NPWJ takes this opportunity to reiterate that NPWJ is not concerned by the accusations and is not under judicial investigation either directly or indirectly and that it has never been.
Niccolo’ Figa-Talamanca, self-suspended Secretary-General of NPWJ, who spent nearly two months in prison, was released without conditions one week ago, on Friday 3 February. Furthermore, NPWJ is cooperating fully with the European Parliament to ensure that the organisation can be restored to the Transparency Register, from which we were suspended as a precautionary measure following Mr Figa-Talamanca’s arrest.
NPWJ has always enjoyed a cooperative relationship with the European Commission based on transparency, respect for the principles of good management and commitment to our common values and is currently implementing important human rights work in Libya with funding from the European Commission, of which we are proud.
NPWJ trusts that the statement by the European Commission at the Plenary Session on Monday, 13 February, and the debate that follows that statement, will be based on facts and not on spurious allegations and speculation that have unfortunately been prevalent in some parts of the media. NPWJ has not been involved in the ongoing investigations, our offices remain open and our staff remains steadfastly working in the defense of human rights around the world.
