Italian murder fugitive captured in Bolivia

A left-wing Italian militant who was convicted of murder in his home country nearly three 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.

The Italian government sent an aircraft to pick up Cesare Battisti, who 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.

The 64-year-old had been living openly in Brazil for years and enjoyed the protection of left-wing 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.

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 killing anyone and has painted himself as a political refugee.

After initially fleeing to Mexico, he then went to France, where he joined dozens of left-wing 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 the Italian government to request that he be handed over. But former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva granted him asylum in 2010.