MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Former Red Brigades fighter arrested in Buenos Aires

It remains to be seen whether Bertulazzi can now be extradited to Italy

Argentine authorities Thursday arrested former Italian far-left Red Brigades guerrilla fighter Leonardo Bertulazzi who had been a fugitive since the 1980s and was residing in the South American country as an asylum seeker. The suspect's detention was made possible through a decision by Buenos Aires to strip him of his refugee status.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni thanked President Javier Milei's administration for the move. “The arrest of the fugitive member of the Red Brigades was made possible thanks to an intense and fruitful collaboration between the Italian and Argentine judicial authorities and Interpol,” she said. Bertulazzi has already been sentenced in Italy to 27 years in jail for his crimes.

Argentina's Security Ministry argued that the measure against Bertulazzi stemmed from the Libertarian Administration's “firm commitment to Justice”.

Bertulazzi, now 72, had already been arrested in Argentina in 2002, but his extradition to Italy was denied and he was able to remain as a refugee. A member of the Genoese column of the Red Brigades, the fugitive fighter was convicted of kidnapping, subversive association, armed band, and other crimes such as the abduction of naval engineer Piero Costa in Genoa on Jan. 12, 1977.

The Red Brigades were a far-left armed group during the so-called Years of Lead between the 1960s and 1980s. The rebels gained worldwide notoriety for the 1978 kidnapping and murder of then-former Prime Minister Aldo Moro of the historic Christian Democracy party. Bertulazzi held a high rank within the organization and was linked to the logistics of Moro's kidnapping.

However, according to Argentine media, Bertulazzi cannot be extradited to Italy, since he has already been tried there in absentia.