Brazil releases photos in bid to catch, extradite Italian

BRASILIA: Brazilian federal police, now cooperating with a longtime Italian demand, on Sunday released a photo montage of Cesare Battisti, an Italian sought by Rome for four murders attributed to a far- left group in the 1970s.

The series of 20 images show the 63-year- old Italian with a variety of accessories — a beard, a mustache, glasses or a hat — to help citizens or police identify him.

Italy has repeatedly sought the extradition of Battisti, who has lived in Brazil for years under protection accorded him by former leftist president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, now in prison for corruption.

But during the country’s recent presidential campaign, farright candidate Jair Bolsonaro — now president- elect — vowed that if elected he would “immediately” extradite Battisti.

On Friday, Bolsonaro reiterated on Twitter that Italy could “count” on his cooperation.

President Michel Temer on Friday ordered Battisti’s extradition to Italy, where he was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for the four homicides.

Battisti was last seen two weeks ago in the small coastal city of Cananeia, a police commissioner told the G1 site. He is now considered a fugitive.

An Italian military plane has been standing ready at Guarulhos International Airport near Sao Paulo to transport him to Rome.

Battisti was convicted in Italy in 1979 of being a member of the outlawed Armed Proletarians for Communism, but escaped from prison. — AFP