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Italy minister Alfano survives vote in deportation row | Italy minister Alfano survives vote in deportation row |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano has survived a no-confidence vote in the Senate, triggered by a row over the deportation of a Kazakh dissident's family. | Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano has survived a no-confidence vote in the Senate, triggered by a row over the deportation of a Kazakh dissident's family. |
The row has threatened the stability of Italy's ruling coalition. | The row has threatened the stability of Italy's ruling coalition. |
The opposition motion against Mr Alfano was defeated by 226 votes to 55. | The opposition motion against Mr Alfano was defeated by 226 votes to 55. |
There are suspicions that the extradition was carried out as a favour to oil-rich Kazakhstan, which has a poor human rights record. | There are suspicions that the extradition was carried out as a favour to oil-rich Kazakhstan, which has a poor human rights record. |
Just before the vote, Prime Minister Enrico Letta strongly defended Mr Alfano. | |
He told the Senate that the minister had not been involved in the expulsion of Alma Shalabayeva, wife of dissident banker Mukhtar Ablyazov, and their six-year-old daughter in May. | He told the Senate that the minister had not been involved in the expulsion of Alma Shalabayeva, wife of dissident banker Mukhtar Ablyazov, and their six-year-old daughter in May. |
But Mr Letta acknowledged that the deportation meant "embarrassment and disrepute" for Italy. | But Mr Letta acknowledged that the deportation meant "embarrassment and disrepute" for Italy. |
Mr Alfano insists he was unaware of Kazakh diplomatic pressure over Mr Ablyazov's family. His chief of staff resigned over the affair this week. | Mr Alfano insists he was unaware of Kazakh diplomatic pressure over Mr Ablyazov's family. His chief of staff resigned over the affair this week. |
Ms Shalabayeva and her daughter were arrested by police who raided their home in suburban Rome in May and who then put them on a private Kazakh jet which flew them to the Central Asian republic. | |
UN experts voice concern | |
The Italian government has ordered an investigation into the case and has revoked the deportation order retroactively. | |
Mr Letta urged senators to back the minister so the government could carry on its work of addressing Italy's economic problems. | Mr Letta urged senators to back the minister so the government could carry on its work of addressing Italy's economic problems. |
"What I am asking you for is a new vote of confidence in the government which I have the honour to lead," he said. | "What I am asking you for is a new vote of confidence in the government which I have the honour to lead," he said. |
Mr Letta heads a fragile coalition of centre-left and right-wing parties. | Mr Letta heads a fragile coalition of centre-left and right-wing parties. |
Mr Alfano is an ally of the former conservative Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. | Mr Alfano is an ally of the former conservative Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. |
UN human rights experts have criticised Italy over the Kazakhstan affair. The dissident's wife and daughter were legally resident in the European Union. | |
"The circumstances of the deportation give rise to the appearance that this was in fact an extraordinary rendition which is of great concern to us," the UN experts said. | |
Extraordinary rendition was the name given to the controversial US policy of handing over terror suspects to US-friendly countries where they were at risk of torture and other human rights abuses. | |
Mr Ablyazov, a former energy minister and chairman of BTA bank, fled Kazakhstan in 2009. He was granted political asylum in the UK but his current location is not known. | |
BTA filed a lawsuit against him, accusing him of siphoning off billions of US dollars from the bank. | |
He denies wrongdoing, calling the case politically motivated. He is said to have funded opposition parties and media in Kazakhstan, where President Nursultan Nazarbayev keeps a tight grip on power and resists calls for democracy. |