The Senate immunity panel on
Wednesday voted to allow the arrest of New Centre Right (NCD)
Senator Antonio Azzollini for suspected graft in connection with
the fraudulent bankruptcy of the Divine Providence Puglia
nursing-home chain.
The panel upheld the request by prosecutors in Trani with
13 votes in favour and 7 against.
The decision must now go before the Senate floor for final
approval.
Azzollini quit as chair of the Senate budget committee
Wednesday ahead of the immunity-panel vote.
On that occasion he reiterated his innocence but said the
committee needed a chair who could devote himself entirely to
the position.
The senator is implicated in the 500-million-euro
bankruptcy case involving the Divine Providence nursing home
chain, which employs 1,600 people.
Azzollini is also the former mayor of the Puglia city of
Molfetta, the name of whose bishop, Monsignor Luigi Martella,
has reportedly surfaced in wiretaps involving former Divine
Providence managers.
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