A Belgian court refused to release Greek MEP Eva Kaili - the face of a sprawling European Parliament graft case - from pre-trial detention Thursday, despite her lawyers protesting against her treatment.
Kaili and three fellow detainees, including one who has turned state witness and testified that he distributed bribes from Qatar and Morocco to Brussels decision-makers, have been charged with corruption.
The 44-year-old former newsreader has been in Belgian custody for a month, despite offering to wear an electronic tracking bracelet if she is provisionally released pending her eventual trial.
But on Thursday, sitting in a closed-door session, Brussels judges maintained her detention, after prosecutors warned that she might try to flee, destroy evidence or collude with fellow suspects.
Lawyers have 24 hours to appeal the court's decision. Kaili's lawyer, Andre Risopoulos, told AFP he would first discuss the matter with his client.
Kaili, a parliamentary vice president at the time of her arrest, is accused of having received large sums of cash from foreign powers to influence positions in the European Parliament in their favour.
She has repeatedly protested her innocence and her lawyers have slammed the Belgian court for making her "pay the highest price" by maintaining her detention "under difficult conditions".
Her Greek lawyer, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, went so far as to denounce Kaili's "torture" after she was held in "solitary confinement for 16 hours in a police cell" during a hearing.
Kaili has only seen her 23-month-old child, with partner and fellow accused Francesco Giorgi, "twice in six weeks", according to Risopoulos.
Giorgi, an Italian parliamentary assistant, has also been detained, along with Italian former socialist MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, a key figure who has cut a deal to divulge information about countries involved and bribes made.
Italy has also arrested Panzeri's wife and daughter under a warrant issued by Belgium and authorised their extraditions. But they are challenging the court order.
Kaili's lawyer Risopoulos speculated that Panzeri was mainly seeking to protect his family by turning state witness.