Italian fugitive caught in Bolivia
Convicted killer Battisti escaped from prison in ’81
ROME — An Italian militant who was convicted of murder in his home country decades ago was arrested in Bolivia, authorities said Sunday, setting the stage for a climactic end to one of Italy’s longest-running efforts to bring a fugitive to justice.
Hours later, Cesare Battisti was handed over to Italian custody, officials said, and he left on a plane carrying him back to Italy to serve a life sentence.
He was captured by Bolivian and Italian police in Santa Cruz de La Sierra, where he was located by intelligence agents after using one of his mobile devices, Italian police and RAI state television said.
The 64-year-old had been living openly in Brazil for years and enjoyed the protection of governments on both sides of the Atlantic. But Brazil’s outgoing president signed a decree last month ordering his extradition, apparently sparking Battisti’s latest effort to flee.
Italian police released a video of Battisti they said was taken hours before his capture, showing him seemingly oblivious to surveillance cameras tracking him as he walked casually down the street in jeans, a blue T-shirt and sunglasses.
“Cesare Battisti’s long flight is over,” Justice Minister Alfonso Buonafede said, adding that he would be taken to Rome’s Rebibbia prison when he landed in Italy. Battisti was expected to arrive on Sunday.
Battisti escaped from an Italian prison in 1981 while awaiting trial on four counts of murder allegedly committed when he was a member of the Armed Proletarians for Communism. He was convicted in absentia in 1990 and faces a life term for the deaths of two police officers, a jeweler and a butcher.
He acknowledged membership in the group but denied that he killed anyone.
After initially fleeing to Mexico, he then went to France, where he joined dozens of Italian militants who enjoyed official protection from the French government.
After political winds shifted in France, Battisti fled to Brazil in 2004 to avoid being extradited. He was arrested in Rio de Janeiro in 2007, prompting Italy to request that he be handed over. But ex-brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva granted him asylum in 2010.
Battisti was arrested in 2017 after he was caught trying to cross the Brazil-bolivia border with about $7,500 in undeclared cash. He was released after a few days.
As a result of that incident, Brazilian Supreme Federal Tribunal Justice Luiz Fux said in December that Interpol had issued a request for Battisti’s arrest on tax evasion and money laundering charges, leading him to issue a Brazilian warrant. Based on that, outgoing Brazilian President Michel Temer signed the decree ordering the fugitive’s extradition.