Senators were set to vote
Wednesday on a request to lift parliamentary immunity for the
arrest of conservative MP Antonio Azzollini, who is under
investigation for alleged involvement in the fraudulent
bankruptcy of a Catholic nursing home chain.
Several parties including the ruling Democratic Party left
their Senators free to vote 'according to their conscience,'
meaning that Azzollini, a member of the New Centre Right (NCD)
party, probably would not be stripped of his immunity through
the secret vote, political sources said.
An Upper House panel has previously voted to allow the
arrest.
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 Roman Catholic bishop, Monsignor
Luigi Martella, has reportedly surfaced in wiretaps involving
former Divine Providence managers.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
