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Rome, April 11, (dpa/GNA) – An Italian court has again postponed a decision on extraditing Member of European Parliament Andrea Cozzolino to Belgium, to face potential criminal charges for his alleged involvement in the European Union corruption scandal.
A court in Naples on Tuesday, granted a request by Cozzolino’s lawyers to review prison conditions in Belgium before making a decision on whether to extradite him, according to the ANSA news agency.
Public prosecutors in Brussels have requested Cozzolino’s extradition. The court is now scheduled to rule May 2 on the request.
Cozzolino, 60, is accused of having accepted money from third countries such as Qatar or Morocco, in order to influence decisions in the EU parliament. The Italian delegate has denied the allegations.
In a recent BBC interview, Cozzolino’s defence attorney argued that his client could be faced with squalid conditions in a Belgian prison.
The Belgian prison system has “outdated facilities,” “clearly inadequate health care” and are also “overcrowded,” the lawyer, Federico Conte, told the BBC.
According to Conte, the judges in Naples have so far allowed Cozzolino to remain at home under house arrest because of his client’s alleged heart problems.
Greek politician Eva Kaili, a former vice president of European Parliament, remains in custody in Brussels for her alleged involvement in the corruption scandal.
On Tuesday, however, a court in Brussels ruled that another member of European Parliament implicated in the scandal, Marc Tarabella, could be released from prison to house arrest.
The alleged mastermind of the bribery scheme, Antonio Panzeri, was only recently allowed to leave prison in Belgium. Panzeri is a former member of European Parliament from Italy.
GNA
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