European Parliament President David Sassoli Dies, Was Hospitalized Due To Immune System Dysfunction

European Parliament President David Sassoli. (Wikimedia Commons/European Parliament)

JAKARTA - European Parliament President David Sassoli has died in a hospital in Italy after undergoing treatment, his spokesman said in a tweet on Tuesday.

There were no further details in the post by spokesman Roberto Cuillo, beyond Sassoli's death at 01:15 a.m. local time Tuesday in Aviano, a city in northeastern Italy.

"David Sassoli died at 1.15am on January 11 at CRO in Aviano, Italy, where he was hospitalized. The date and place of burial will be communicated in the next few hours," Cuillo wrote on Twitter quoted by The Guardian on January 11.

Sassoli has been hospitalized since December 26 due to abnormal functioning of his immune system, Cuillo said in a statement released the day before Sassoli's death.

"This hospitalization was necessary because of serious complications resulting from immune system dysfunction," Cuillo said in a statement, citing the Associated Press.

Sassoli, 65, was first elected to the European Parliament in 2009. He won another term in 2014 and served as vice president of Parliament. He has decided not to run for re-election when lawmakers vote to appoint their new president later this month.

To note, the European Parliament, headquartered in Strasbourg, France, represents the 450 million citizens of the European Union and calls itself the "heart of European democracy." The European Parliament is one of the seven branches of the European Union and has more than 700 members who are directly elected by its member states.