Brazil judge orders extradition of former leftist Italian guerrilla News
Brazil judge orders extradition of former leftist Italian guerrilla

[JURIST] A federal judge in Brazil has ordered the deportation of former leftist Italian guerrilla Cesare Battisti [BBC report; JURIST news archive], annulling a work visa granted by the Brazilian government in 2011. Battisti, a former member of the Armed Proletarians for Communism, was convicted [Reuters report] of committing four murders during the 1970s. He escaped from prison in Italy in 1981 and lived on the run in France and Mexico before settling in Brazil in 2004. The administration of former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva [BBC backgrounder] granted Battisti asylum in 2009, citing concerns that if returned to Italy he would face political persecution.

The federal court’s decision is only the most recent legal decision in a long standing legal battle surrounding Battisti, which has led to significant political contention between Brazil and Italy. In June 2011 the Brazilian Supreme Court [official website, in Portuguese] ruled [JURIST report] 6-3 that it would not extradite the former Italian guerrilla back to Italy; holding that Italy did not have standing to challenge the decision. In 2009 the Brazilian Supreme Court voted 5-to-4 to extradite [JURIST report] Battisti, but left the final decision to Lula, who granted him asylum earlier that same year. Battisti has firmly protested his extradition, going on a hunger strike [BBC report] in 2009 in the Brazilian prison where he is being held prior to the granting of asylum.