Bertulazzi used a rope and harness to climb down from a fifth-floor residence and evade authorities in Argentina.
Printed On 12 Nov 2026
A 74-year-old former member of Italy’s far-left Purple Brigades has escaped from home arrest in Argentina by climbing down from a fifth-floor residence utilizing a harness and twine, prompting a nationwide search.
Leonardo Bertulazzi, who faces extradition to Italy to serve a 27-year jail sentence, escaped on Tuesday and was nonetheless on the run on Wednesday, Argentine police officers informed The Related Press information company.
Beneficial Tales
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Bertulazzi was convicted in absentia by a court docket in his dwelling nation for his function within the kidnapping and dying of a former Italian prime minister by the left-wing armed group, and his refugee standing in Argentina was revoked beneath right-wing President Javier Milei.
Police stated he descended onto the second-floor terrace of a neighbouring home, climbed all the way down to a first-floor terrace, crossed a vacant lot and obtained onto the road by climbing over a gate.
Authorities didn’t instantly discover Bertulazzi was gone as he had tampered along with his digital ankle monitor, the officers stated. They stated he positioned it inside a tool containing a thermal blanket to take care of its temperature, together with grease or animal fats, apparently to maintain moisture in.
Explosives specialists examined the system, which had been made to resemble an explosive.
Argentina’s Safety Ministry has provided a reward of 20 million pesos (about $13,000) for info resulting in his seize.
‘Years of Lead’
The Purple Brigades had been a far-left armed group answerable for a wave of kidnappings and killings in Italy within the Nineteen Seventies and Eighties, a interval often known as the “Years of Lead”.
The group kidnapped and killed former Prime Minister Aldo Moro in 1978. Argentine authorities have stated Bertulazzi, who belonged to the group’s Genoa department, was concerned within the logistics of Moro’s kidnapping.
Italian courts convicted him within the Eighties of “terrorism-related” crimes, leading to a mixed 27-year sentence, in response to Argentine court docket data.
He was first arrested in Buenos Aires in November 2002, however an Argentine decide rejected Italy’s extradition request in 2003 as a result of Italian regulation didn’t assure him a brand new trial after a conviction in absentia. He was granted refugee standing in 2004.
Argentina revoked it in 2024, beneath Milei, and re-arrested him that August. Its Supreme Courtroom permitted his extradition final 12 months.
Wanda Ferro, an undersecretary in Italy’s Inside Ministry, stated Argentine police had been answerable for making certain he was handed over. “I’m sure that each effort will likely be made,” she informed native tv, including that she hoped the extradition may happen “in a short time” if Bertulazzi is recaptured.
