Brussels, 20/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament (EP) has voted by 83 votes to one, with two abstentions to approve the resolution put by all Italian parties represented in the EP, calling on the European Union to give its political support to Italy's efforts to have Brazil extradite convicted terrorist Cesare Battisti, found guilty by Italian justice of four murders and sentenced to life imprisonment. The vote closed a sometimes lively and controversial debate with interventions largely from Italian MEPs, backing the resolution, and Portuguese, more doubtful of the urgency of the opinion. Commissioner Stefan Füle said that the European executive was aware of the matter and shared the sympathy expressed by many speakers for the families of the victims. He said, however, that the Commission was not empowered to intervene in this issue. Members of the families of Battisti's victims, who had given a press conference in Strasbourg on Wednesday, watched the debate and the vote.
The resolution on the extradition of the Italian terrorist was debated in the time allocated by the EP to human rights. Parliament called for religious freedom to be observed in Pakistan and for an end to persecution of human rights workers, especially women, in Iran. (Gp/transl.rt)