Luca Volonte. Photo by European People's Party https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Luca_Volontè#/media/File:EPP_Congress_2012._Day_1_(8094592436).jpg

12 January 2021, 11:21

PACE member convicted for taking bribe from Azerbaijani officials

A court in Milan found Luca Volonte, a former member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), guilty of receiving EUR 500,000 for blocking the adoption of the report on political prisoners in Azerbaijan. He has been sentenced to four years in prison, the "La Repubblica" newspaper writes.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in June 2016, it became known that in Italy, Luca Volonte, a former head of the European People's Party faction at the PACE, was accused of receiving EUR 2.39 million for supporting Azerbaijani officials. The Prosecutor's Office of Milan accused him of corruption and money laundering. However, Mr Volonte's advocates refuted the charges as absolutely groundless.

The prosecutors believe that Luca Volonte was promised EUR 10 million from the accounts of two Azerbaijani state funds. The payments were formalized as royalties for consulting services. Of this money, Volonte received about EUR 2.4 million. However, the prosecutors managed to prove the receipt of only EUR 0.5 million.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 12, 2021 at 07:19 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

All news
НАСТОЯЩИЙ МАТЕРИАЛ (ИНФОРМАЦИЯ) ПРОИЗВЕДЕН И РАСПРОСТРАНЕН ИНОСТРАННЫМ АГЕНТОМ ООО “МЕМО”, ЛИБО КАСАЕТСЯ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ ИНОСТРАННОГО АГЕНТА ООО “МЕМО”.

March 27, 2024 16:51

March 27, 2024 14:49

March 26, 2024 23:13

  • Analysts dispute on risks of IS'* intensifying in Northern Caucasus

    After the terror act at the Crocus City Hall, in Northern Caucasus, there is a risk of intensification of militants of the IS*, although no terror acts on civilians have not been observed there since 2018. This was noted by Sergey Goncharov, a veteran of special services, and Andrei Koshkin, a military expert.

March 26, 2024 20:26

March 26, 2024 19:40

News archive