Luca Volontè

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Luca Volontè 2011

Luca Volontè (born March 17, 1966 in Saronno ) is an Italian politician and ex-head of the EPP group in the Council of Europe until 2013.

Luca Volontè studied political science . He has also been politically active since 1994 and was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies for the CDU in 1996 . In 2002 he was one of the founding members of the UDC . He was a member of the Council of Europe from September 29, 2008 to June 27, 2013. He was Chairman of the EPP from January 25, 2010 to June 2013.

Corruption allegations

When a report on the dramatic situation of political prisoners in Azerbaijan , which was drawn up under the leadership of the German SPD MP Christoph Strässer and presented to the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe, was rejected by a clear majority of MPs in January 2013, there were some indications that the vote would be taken was bought against the embarrassing report for Azerbaijan.

Investigations in Italy had uncovered a lobby network around MP Luca Volontè. Azerbaijan is said to have bought parliamentarians of the Council of Europe through him. The investigation was initiated after a bank near Milan noticed two suspicious transfers, each with six-figure transfers being processed by banks in the Baltic States, with mailbox companies based in Great Britain and the Marshall Islands . The recipient of the payments was the wife of an Italian parliamentarian. Luca Volontè received a total of 2.39 million euros between the end of 2012 and the end of 2014 - the money came from the authoritarian ruled Azerbaijan, according to the investigators. Volontè has to answer to court in April for money laundering. The prosecutors also saw a connection between the payments to Volontè and his work as a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Volontè has admitted to having received the 2.39 million euros, but denies any connection with his work in the Council of Europe.

The deputy head of the German delegation to the Council of Europe, Frank Schwabe ( SPD ), fears that the scope of the scandal is far greater. There is a suspicion that the corruption is on a larger scale and that it is not just volunteers who are involved, and that the Parliamentary Assembly must do everything to clear up the matter.

The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Pedro Agramunt Font de Mora , who resigned on October 6, 2017 , is also said to have repeatedly mentioned Volontès about so-called “caviar diplomacy” in e-mails. However, the evidence would not be sufficient to prove bribery and such is strictly rejected by Agramunt.

There is a suspicion that an Estonian bank account of Hilux Services received almost one billion euros from the Azerbaijani company Baktelecom between the end of 2013 and the end of 2014 .

The Presidium has appointed three experts to clarify the allegations of corruption in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. On May 30, 2017, two former judges at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Nicolas Bratza and Elisabet Fura , and an examining magistrate from France , Jean-Louis Bruguiere, were appointed.

Volontè himself had to answer for money laundering in an Italian court in April.

In February 2018, the proceedings were not opened by a court in Milan (VII Criminal Chamber) under Articles 129 and 530 of the Italian StPO.

Web links

Commons : Luca Volontè  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Excitement about allegations of bribery in the Council of Europe , Salzburger Nachrichten , January 27, 2017. Luca Volontè's successor is Axel Fischer , who has also been under strong criticism for several months because of the clarification of the allegations of corruption - see e.g. E.g .: Christoph Heinemann "The Council of Europe has sold its soul to an autocratic regime" , Deutschlandfunk , June 30, 2017 and seal of approval for dictators , Der Spiegel , July 16, 2016.
  2. ↑ Luca Volontè , website of the Council of Europe , sent by the Unione di Centro .
  3. ^ Excitement about allegations of bribery in the Council of Europe , Salzburger Nachrichten , January 27, 2017. See also: Parliament , No. 18 of May 2, 2017, p. 11.
  4. ^ At Assad's invitation , taz.de, April 29, 2017.
  5. ↑ The Trace of Money , Der Tagesspiegel , March 22, 2017.
  6. ↑ The Trace of Money , Der Tagesspiegel , March 22, 2017.
  7. ^ At Assad's invitation , taz.de, April 29, 2017.
  8. ↑ The Trace of Money , Der Tagesspiegel , March 22, 2017.
  9. ↑ The Parliament , No. 18 of May 2, 2017, p. 11.
  10. ↑ Experts should investigate alleged bribery scandal in the Council of Europe , Der Standard , May 30, 2017.
  11. ↑ The trace of money , Der Tagesspiegel , March 22, 2017. See also: President of Azerbaijani NGO rejects allegations of corruption, refers to Milan court ruling , APA-OTS broadcast of February 17, 2017.
  12. ^ Tribunale di Milano assolve l'ex deputato Luca Volontè dall'accusa di corruzione - Global Legal Chronicle Italia. Retrieved February 4, 2019 (Italian).
personal data
SURNAME Volontè, Luca
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian politician
DATE OF BIRTH March 17, 1966
PLACE OF BIRTH Saronno