Leonardo Bertulazzi, a 74-year-old former member of Italy’s Red Brigades militant organization, escaped from house arrest in Buenos Aires on Tuesday morning while under supervision pending extradition to Italy. Bertulazzi had been held under house arrest since his arrest in 2024 and faced a 27-year prison sentence in his home country on terrorism charges.
Authorities discovered his absence after his ankle monitor stopped transmitting data. According to sources familiar with the investigation, Bertulazzi disabled the monitoring device at approximately 6am by wrapping it in pork fat and placing it beside a heating pad to bypass its temperature and pressure sensors. He then used a harness to rappel from his fifth-floor apartment, jumped into a vacant lot behind the building, and scaled a metal gate to reach the street. The escape occurred while security resources were concentrated on Pope Francis’s visit to Argentina.
Bertulazzi had a lengthy history of legal complications spanning decades. He fled Italy in 1980 after conviction in the kidnapping of shipowner Pietro Costa, a crime tied to the Red Brigades’ funding and operations. He lived for years in Argentina under a refugee status granted in 2004, but that protection was revoked two years ago. An Argentine court rejected his appeal to retain refugee status on November 3, prompting his escape.
Italian officials characterized the escape as a security failure by Argentine authorities. The Italian interior ministry undersecretary stated that Argentine police had responsibility for surveillance and transfer to Italian authorities. Argentina’s security ministry subsequently offered a $13,000 reward for information leading to his recapture.
Bertulazzi’s legal team had previously argued against extradition based on health concerns, citing three strokes during his detention and mobility difficulties. His daughter stated he had no choice but to flee and expressed confidence that under current Italian law, only charges of participating in an armed group would remain viable against him.
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
Article summary produced by Claude AI