Italian fugitive after captured 3 decades

ROME >> A left-wing Italian militant who was convicted of murder in his home country nearly three decades ago was arrested in Bolivia, authorities said, 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 officers 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 lived openly in Brazil for years and enjoyed the protection of leftwing 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 that they said was taken hours before his capture, showing him seemingly oblivious to surveillance cameras tracking him.