After four postponements, Carla Zambelli’s extradition trial goes to a vote in Rome

After being postponed four times, the trial that will decide on the extradition of former federal deputy Carla Zambelli (PL-SP), arrested in Rome, Italy, is scheduled for this Tuesday, 10th. The decision will be up to the Italian courts.

Convicted by the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Zambelli had her extradition requested from Italy after leaving Brazil, which led to her arrest by the Italian police. Now, it is up to the European country’s judicial authorities to open and complete the procedure that will define whether or not the extradition will be authorized, especially since the former parliamentarian also has Italian citizenship.

Zambelli’s defense in Italy claims to have “good expectations” regarding the outcome of the hearing. According to lawyer Fabio Pagnozzi, who represents her in the country, Italian senator Matteo Gelmetti has worked with the Ministry of Justice to try to block the extradition, under the argument of an alleged disregard for procedural guarantees in Brazil by Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF.

“The senator, from the party of the Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, is demanding non-extradition from the Minister of Justice and also criticizing the way this process in Brazil was judged by a minister who was ‘rapporteur, victim and accuser’, in his words,” said Pagnozzi.

Sought through the advice of the STF and his office, Moraes has not commented so far. The space remains open.

According to the defense, Gelmetti also asked the Italian authorities for explanations about how deputy Angelo Bonelli, from the Green Party of Italy, obtained Zambelli’s address in Rome.

“The senator asked for clarification on how Zambelli’s address was provided by a left-wing deputy, as he would not have access to local police investigations,” said Pagnozzi. “This scenario changes a lot.”

In July last year, Bonelli published on his X profile that he had located Zambelli in Rome and reported the address to the authorities. “Carla Zambelli is in an apartment in Rome. I provided the address to the police; at this moment, the police are identifying Zambelli,” he wrote at the time.

Bonelli, 62 years old, is an environmental activist and, since 2022, president of the Green-Left Alliance, a coalition that opposes Giorgia Meloni’s government.

According to an investigation by the Estadão together with investigators, Zambelli was located by the Federal Police attaché in Rome, who works at the Brazilian embassy, ​​together with Italian authorities. The arrest occurred on the same day as Bonelli’s publication. Since then, the former deputy has remained detained in the Italian capital.

In Brazil, Zambelli was convicted twice by the STF. In the first action, he received a ten-year prison sentence for invading the systems of the National Justice Council (CNJ) and ideological falsehood, in collusion with hacker Walter Delgatti Neto. He claimed to have been hired by her to insert false documents into the CNJ system, including a false arrest warrant against minister Alexandre de Moraes.

After this conviction, Zambelli left the country and ended up arrested in Italy in a joint operation between the Federal Police and local authorities.

In the second conviction, the STF set a sentence of five years and three months in prison, in an initial semi-open regime, for the crimes of illegal possession of a firearm and illegal restraint, with loss of mandate after the final judgment.

She was involved in a disturbance on the day of the 2022 elections. In videos released on social media and in the possession of the Civil Police, the then parliamentarian appears holding a pistol while chasing a black man, who is attacked by other people. A shot is fired by the group that the deputy was part of. Carla claims to have been attacked.