Ex-member of radical Marxist group scales balcony, escapes house arrest in Argentina

Leonardo Bertulazzi, former member of the Red Brigades, being arrested by Argentinian police in Buenos Aires on 29 August 2024. Photograph: Argentina's security ministry/AFP/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenLeonardo Bertulazzi, former member of the Red Brigades, being arrested by Argentinian police in Buenos Aires on 29 August 2024.

Fotografia: Ministério da Segurança da Argentina/AFP/Getty Images Argentina. Ex‑membro de grupo marxista radical escala varanda, escapa de prisão domiciliar na Argentina.

Leonardo Bertulazzi, 74, aguardando extradição para a Itália, supostamente usou arnês para fugir da custódia.

Prefer the Guardian on GoogleA 74-year-old former member of Italy’s radical Marxist group the Red Brigades has escaped from house arrest in Argentina, the country’s security ministry confirmed on Wednesday, after he reportedly hid his ankle monitor inside a tube of pork and lowered himself from a fifth-floor balcony.

Authorities placed Leonardo Bertulazzi under house arrest in Buenos Aires in 2024, prior to his extradition to Italy to serve a 27-year prison sentence. He had received the sentence in 1987 for joining a subversive association and belonging to an armed group.

After years on the run, Bertulazzi was first arrested by Argentine authorities in 2002. He was freed a few months later and secured refugee status in 2004, but was arrested again in 2024 after it was revoked.

Read moreThe fugitive held a senior position in the Red Brigades, a radical Marxist organization responsible for attacks from 1969 to 1980, dubbed Italy’s “Years of Lead”.

The group most notoriously kidnapped and assassinated former prime minister Aldo Moro in 1978.

Filmagens de segurança mostraram Bertulazzi caindo de um prédio em uma rua pública enquanto carros passavam.

Um detetive que estava rastreando o ex‑membro das Brigadas Vermelhas supostamente disse à La Nación que Bertulazzi desceu do quinto andar usando um arnês.

The footage, which indicated the time was 6. 01am on 10 November, showed a possibly shaken Bertulazzi sitting down to rest for a few moments.

Police noticed his ankle monitor had stopped transmitting movement data and headed to the house, where they found the device discarded and Bertulazzi nowhere to be found.

Argentina aprovou sua extradição para a Itália em julho de 2025, depois que o Tribunal Supremo do país rejeitou um recurso final.