The intention of the Federal Deputy (PL-SP) to settle in to escape the conviction of ten years in prison may bump into the Italian Constitution and in judicial collaboration agreements between Brazil and Italy.
The case was taken to the Italian government on Wednesday (4) by an opposition deputy, who calls for clarifications on measures that will be taken against a possible request for extradition of Brazilian authorities.
After announcing his departure from Brazil, Zambelli said he was in the United States and intended to travel to Italy, a country of which he has citizenship. According to the deputy, the Italian passport would make her “untouchable” and prevent her from being sent back to the country.
Unlike Brazil, which does not allow the extradition of its citizens who have committed crimes, the Italian Constitution, in its article 26, provides that the extradition of a citizen may be allowed “when expressly provided for in international conventions”, but never in case of political crimes.
Zambelli was sentenced to ten years in prison in May by the first class of (Supreme Federal Court) on charges of commanding invasion of institutional systems of the CNJ (National Council of Justice) with the help of a hacker and for ideological falsehood. The objective would be to issue false release permits and provoke confusion in the judiciary. It is still appealed to the Supreme.
The court minister ordered the pre -trial detention of the parliamentarian and the inclusion of her name in Interpol’s red diffusion list, which brings together fugitives from justice in several nations.
Brazil and Italy have maintained, since the 1990s, treated of cooperation in criminal and civil matters. Ratified in 1991 in Italy, the agreement provides for the obligation of extradition “of persons who are in their territory and are sought by the judicial authorities”, to continue a pending process or for the purpose of “execution of deprivation of liberty”.
Although Zambelli has the double citizenship, she always lived in Brazil, which can be taken into consideration if her situation is analyzed by the Italian authorities.
Quoting this point of Italian legislation, Italian deputy Angelo Bonelli of the Green and Left Alliance Group made, on Wednesday (4), a request for clarification to the Italian government about Zambelli’s intention to go to Italy.
Submitted to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Justice and Interior, Bonelli asks what measures the folders intend to take the case. He also asks for the alteration of the Citizenship Law, so that the Italian passport of those who are convicted of coup crimes or coup attempt, against humanity and “incitement to the violent subversion of the economic or social order.”
“Zambelli states that, being an Italian citizen, no one can do anything to him. The point is that she is also a Brazilian citizen and has not resigned to Brazilian citizenship. Therefore, Italy has a duty to continue with an extradition request. It is a very important legal point,” Bonelli told Bonelli to Sheet. “I will involve all the opposition in this because it is in danger of being a case of international shame if Italy covers a criminal,” he said.
The case of the deputy has as jurisprudence that of Henrique Pizzolato, former marketing director of Banco do Brasil convicted in 2012 to 12 years in prison for corruption, embezzlement and money laundering. With his brother’s Italian passport, he fled to Italy. He was arrested by Interpol in 2014 and extradited to Brazil the following year.
In his announcement, Zambelli stated that by going to Europe, he intends to seek ultra -right leaders. He said the prime minister needs to “understand” what is happening. The deputy said she was persecuted politics by the Supreme Court and said that “the left is doing very badly for the country.”
Meloni leads a coalition government, formed by his party, brothers from Italy, the League, Matteo Salvini, and Antonio Tajani’s Force Italy. The first two are ultra-right, while the third is considered center right.
Meloni and Salvini have already made public statements to support the family of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), and exponents of their parties keep links with the group. In April 2024, Eduardo Bolsonaro found European conservative wing parliamentarians to complain about what they claimed to be violations of freedom of expression and political persecution in Brazil.
One of them was Nicola Procaccini of the Meloni Party. “We hear directly from him [Eduardo] What is the situation in Brazil and we are concerned. In the end, the real danger to democracy was not Bolsonaro, but Lula, “Procaccini told Sheet at the time.
One of the largest points of contact between the groups was precisely a case of extradition – that of terrorist Cesare Battisti. Condemned by four homicides in the late 1970s in Italy, Battisti spent almost 40 years as a fugitive from Italian justice, 14 of them in Brazil.
He benefited from a decision by Lula, who in 2010 granted political refuge to the Italian. The decision created friction with Italy, which asked for extradition. Because of this, Meloni made several public criticism to Lula.
In December 2018, she related Bolsonaro to the case. “With Bolsonaro in Brazil, a breach is finally opened on the international network of chic radicals that for decades protected the red terrorist Battisti. We hope that his extradition will be confirmed soon, the chains here await open arms.”
In 2019, during the Bolsonaro government, the terrorist was arrested in Bolivia and returned to Italy, where he is serving time for life imprisonment.
