The last instance of the Italian Court judges this Friday (22) the request made by Brazil. The hearing at the Supreme Court of Cassation, in , is scheduled to begin in the morning, in the sixth criminal section. The decision is expected to be published by early evening.
The court will analyze an appeal by Zambelli’s defense filed against the extradition authorization issued by the Court of Appeal in Rome, where the case began to be processed. In this first instance, the judges of the former deputy to Brazil, so that she serves a prison sentence for two convictions.
The defense maintains that Zambelli is a victim of political persecution in Brazil, that her trials at the STF (Supreme Federal Court) were not impartial and that prison conditions pose a risk to the former deputy.
Rebibbia penitentiary in Rome. She fled Brazil in June last year, spent almost two months on the run and was arrested at the end of July. She is not expected to participate in this Friday’s hearing.
If the extradition is confirmed by the Court of Cassation, the case will be sent to the Italian government for a final decision. The Minister of Justice, Carlo Nordio, has up to 45 days to respond. He is from the Brothers of Italy party, founded by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
If Nordio maintains the court’s opinion, Zambelli could be sent to Brazil around 20 days later, but the defense will still have the possibility of appealing to the Regional Administrative Court against the government’s decision. In this scenario, along with the appeal, a request is made for provisional suspension of the execution of the extradition until the end of the analysis of the case.
Other possible outcomes of this Friday’s hearing are for the Court to deny the extradition or order that the process be redone in the Court of Appeal.
According to lawyer Alexandro Tirelli, a specialist in extradition cases involving Brazil and Italy, the highest probability is that the court will agree with the extradition. “The Cassation can decide autonomously, but it is a decision based on the instructive acts constituted in the Court of Appeal”, he says.
The appeal court stated in its rulings that Brazil’s request meets all the conditions of admissibility established in the treaty between the two countries on the subject and in the provisions of the Italian code of criminal procedure.
Zambelli has two sentences to serve in Brazil. There are ten years in prison for the issuance of a false arrest warrant against Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF. And another five years for , in the episode in which he pointed a gun at a man in São Paulo, in 2022.
If extradited, she will be sent to Colmeia, a medium security prison in the Federal District. On Wednesday (20), Minister Alexandre de Moraes determined, before the process in Italy was completed, that the Brazilian government adopt the necessary measures to carry out the extradition of the former deputy.
Second most voted federal deputy in the State of São Paulo in 2022, with 946 thousand votes, Zambelli is one of the main names in Bolsonarism. After being spared from impeachment by the Chamber plenary, a decision that was later overturned by the STF, she resigned from her mandate in December.
