Former Red Brigades member escapes house arrest in Argentina — Al Jazeera
In Argentina, 74-year-old Leonardo Bertulazzi, a former member of the Italian far-left Red Brigades organization, escaped from house arrest. He descended from his fifth-floor apartment using a rope and a safety harness system. Bertulazzi is being sought across the country. Last year, Argentina’s Supreme Court approved his extradition to Italy to serve a cumulative 27-year prison sentence.
Escape from the apartment
As Al Jazeera reports, the man first reached the second-floor terrace of a neighboring building, then descended to the first-floor terrace. He then crossed an undeveloped lot and got out onto the street by climbing over a gate.
Argentine law enforcement officers did not immediately discover Bertulazzi’s disappearance because he interfered with the electronic bracelet. According to police officials, he placed the bracelet in a device with a thermal blanket to maintain its temperature, as well as lubricant or animal fat, presumably to retain moisture. The device was made to resemble an explosive device, so it was inspected by bomb disposal specialists.
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Argentina’s Ministry of Security announced a reward of 20 million pesos, or about $13,000, for information that helps detain the fugitive.
Extradition cases
Italian courts convicted Bertulazzi in absentia in the 1980s for terrorism-related crimes. Argentine authorities said he belonged to the Genoa cell of the Red Brigades and was involved in the logistics of the kidnapping of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro. The group kidnapped and killed Moro in 1978.
Bertulazzi was detained in Buenos Aires in November 2002, but the following year an Argentine court rejected Italy’s extradition request. The reason was that Italian law did not guarantee him a new trial after the in absentia conviction. In 2004, he received refugee status, which Argentina revoked in 2024. He was arrested again in August of that year.
