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The prosecutor's office of Milan accused the famous Italian politician Luca Volonte, a former head of the European People's Party faction in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), of receiving bribes from the Azerbaijani representatives, writes the newspaper Corriere della Sera.

According to the edition, the prosecutor’s office filed a suit against Volonte accusing him of corruption and money laundering. Volonte is accused of receiving 2.39 million euros from 2012 to 2014 from Baktelekom, a telecommunications company.  The investigating officers suspect that he has received the funds for supporting the Azerbaijani officials.

The newspaper cites the extracts from the indictment, which state that "during the meetings and conferences in Azerbaijan and Strasbourg Volonte promised to advance the political positions of a foreign state in exchange for money" and held "short-term and long-term political initiatives." The lawyers of Volonte deny the accusations of the prosecutors, calling them completely baseless. 

The prominent politician may soon be brought to trial. Volonte has been  elected as a member of the Chamber of Deputies from a number of centrist parties for four times. The last time he was elected in 2008. From January of 2010 to June of 2013 he was appointed as the head the European People's Party in the PACE. In its tern, the Italian edition Il Fatto Quotidiano writes that according to the prosecutor’s office Volonte has already managed to work off the money he had received. On January of 2013, the Council of Europe by 128 votes did not accept the report of the German MP Christoph Strasser on 85 political prisoners of Aliyev’s regime. According to law enforcement agencies in Milan , the money were transferred to Volonte by the Azerbaijani telecom company Baktelecom. Volonte most likely received them in a roundabout way and through false accounts in the Estonian branch of the Danish Danske Bank.

According to the indictment , Volonte has promised not to take it all, but share with others. He had agreed about the money with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elkhan Suleymanov from the PACE , with his assistant Muslim Mammadov and other Azerbaijani politicians, not yet identified . According to Volonte lawyers , the prosecution is based on an erroneous interpretation of his relationship .

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