MEP Cozzolino was paroled after being charged with corruption.
The European Parliament (EP) member from Italy, Andrea Cozzolino, who was charged with corruption, has been released on parole.
Months later, Andrea Cozzolino, an Italian member of the European Parliament (EP), voluntarily left his own country, where he was placed under house arrest. After the trial, he was granted parole and released.
Cozzolino voluntarily returned to Brussels on June 19th, the Belgian Prosecutor's Office said in a written statement.
Cozzolino, who was arrested by police at the airport, He was sentenced to probation and released after the trial, much like the other defendants in the case.
Accused of accepting payments in exchange for influencing political choices in the EP in favor of Morocco and Qatar, Cozzolino is one of the suspects in the investigation, which has been going on since December 2022.
Cozzolino was under house arrest after having been imprisoned in his native Italy at the behest of Belgian authorities.
The request for his extradition to Belgium has drawn objections from the Italian MP.
Along with Cozzolino, other people involved in the investigation were the EP's vice president at the time, Eva Kaili of Greece, former Italian MP Pier Antionio Panzeri, Kaili's boyfriend, Francesco Giorgi of the EP, Niccolo Figa-Talamanca of an NGO, and Belgian MP Marc Tarabella.
At that time, 1.5 million euros were discovered during searches of several suspects' residences and places of employment.
It was claimed that Panzeri was the ringleader of the bribery scheme and that, through his cooperation with the police, Panzeri had turned confessor. All persons who were detained in Belgium as part of the inquiry were freed on probation.