Francesco Musotto

Francesco Musotto (born on 1 February 1947 in Palermo) is an Italian politician and Member of the European Parliament for the Islands (elected for the first time in 1999).

A former member of the Italian Socialist Party, he is currently with Forza Italia (part of the European People's Party), sits on the European Parliament's Committee on Regional Development, is a substitute for the Committee on Fisheries, and of the Committee on Transport and Tourism. He is also the current President of the Province of Palermo.

Career

He graduated in law in 1969, worked as a lawyer from 1974, and as a farmer from 1996. Musotto earned a second diploma in agriculture in 1998.

Between 1972 and 1975, he served as Municipal Councillor for Cefalù, and is Chairman of the Palermo Provincial Council since 1998. He was a member of the Sicilian Regional Assembly in 1983-1986.

Francesco Musotto was arrested on November 8, 1995, for collusion with the Mafia. He was accused of providing housing to the mafioso Leoluca Bagarella and passing on confidential information from the police. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19951109/ai_n14016816 Berlusconi ally held on Mafia charges] , The Independent, November 9, 1995] He was forced to resign as president of the province of Palermo, but he was immediately re-elected after his acquittal in April 1998. Musotto said he knew mafiosi because he had been their lawyer and said he never had asked for votes from Cosa Nostra.

External links

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ee also

*European Parliament election, 2004 (Italy)

References

*Jamieson, Alison (2000). "The Antimafia: Italy’s fight against organized crime", London: Macmillan, ISBN 0-333-80158-X.