A court has ordered Greek MEP Eva Kaili to remain in custody in Belgium over corruption allegations linked to Qatar that have rocked the European Parliament, prosecutors said.
Ms Kaili, who was one of four suspects arrested earlier this month, had protested her innocence and asked the hearing to grant her release under electronic surveillance.
But the court ruled against her, ordering that she stay in detention for another month, the Belgium prosecutor's office said.
Ms Kaili, 44, a former newsreader removed from her post as parliamentary vice president after police raids, has become the public face of the alleged corruption case.
Qatar officials have insisted that the Gulf monarchy played no role in any wrongdoing.
Ms Kaili was arrested on 9 December as Belgian police, searching a number of addresses, found €1.5m in cash.
Ms Kaili was charged shortly afterwards and has been in detention since.
Another three suspects - her partner Francesco Giorgi; the head of an NGO allegedly used to funnel money; and a former MEP-turned-lobbyist, all of them Italian - were also arrested.
All four are charged with "criminal organisation, corruption and money laundering".
Closed door hearing
A Belgian judge authorised Ms Kaili's arrest and detention on grounds she was allegedly caught red-handed with cash, meaning her usual parliamentary immunity could not be invoked.
Separate investigations have begun in Italy and Greece, and today Greek judicial sources said they had seized a 7,000 square metre plot of land bought by Ms Kaili and Mr Giorgi on Paris, in the Cyclades islands, and frozen a bank account held by the couple.
The MEP denies receiving money from Qatar in exchange for influencing decisions affecting it in the EU parliament.
Qatar also denies the bribery allegations and has warned that continued linkage of it to the scandal could "negatively" impact ties and its natural gas supplies to the European Union.
Today's hearing took place behind closed doors.
Greece has opened its own preliminary inquiry into corruption and money laundering.
Ms Kaili's hearing was conducted separately from the three other suspects, who appeared before a Belgian court on 14 December.
On that date, the court ordered Ms Kaili's partner Mr Giorgi and the former MEP, Pier Antonio Panzeri, to remain in jail.
The NGO head, Niccolo Figa-Talamanca, was ordered to wear an electronic bracelet to track his movements, but that was suspended on appeal.
Euros in a suitcase
Ms Kaili's Greek lawyer Michalis Dimitrakopoulos said the day before the 14 December hearing that she did not know of the existence of the cash - €150,000, according to a Belgian law enforcement source - found in her home.
Another of Ms Kaili's lawyers Andre Risopoulos told Belgian newspaper Le Soir that she strongly denied that she had "partially confessed".
He contradicted reports saying she had admitted to asking her father to remove the money uncovered at her address.
Ms Kaili's father was held in custody for two days after the police searches before he was released.
Mr Panzeri's wife and daughter were arrested in Italy under a European warrant and could face extradition to Belgium in January to answer charges.
Apart from the money found in Ms Kaili's Belgian apartment, police discovered €750,000 in a suitcase with the father, and another €600,000 at Mr Panzeri's place.
An international union leader, Luca Visentini, said Tuesday he had received €50,000 from Mr Panzeri's Fight Impunity NGO.
He said the cash was to cover expenditure for his campaign to take over as general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
Mr Visentini, who was detained for questioning during the Belgian police raids but later released while remaining a suspect, was suspended by the union's board on Wednesday pending internal investigations.
