STRASBOURG, France.- The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe requested from its members investigated for strong suspicions of illicit activities, to renounce and return their records.

According to a statement issued on Thursday by the Assembly itself, the decision passed by 123 votes in favor and nine against, is based on a report presented last Monday by experts on the improper conduct of some legislators.

Among the defendants there are Spaniards Pedro Agramunt and Jordi Xucl, Romanian Cezar Preda, Austrian Stefan Schennach, and Azerbaijani conservative Samad Seydov.

The Council of Europe, founded in 1949, is the oldest organization of the so-called Old Continent, and gathers all the States of the region with the exception of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City.