Senate panel approves Azzollini arrest

(ANSA) - Rome, July 9 - 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.