The application of Italy's
Severino law banning definitively convicted criminals from
holding office must be clarified, the head of the Senate
immunity panel, Dario Stefano, said Thursday after the Senate
voted against the ejection of Forza Italia Senator Augusto
Minzolini despite the panel's recommendations. The vote, Stefano
said, has highlighted "arguments against the Severino law" which
should be the subject of further debate but "as long as it
exists, it should be applied". Supporters of Forza Italia leader
and three-time premier Silvio Berlusconi argued that Minzolini's
survival meant the Severino law ruling that banned Berlusconi
from office after a tax-fraud conviction should be quashed. The
law is named after former justice minister Paola Severino.
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