Leonardo Bertulazzi, 74, escaped from house arrest in Buenos Aires this week using a harness, Argentina’s security ministry confirmed on Wednesday. Bertulazzi was awaiting extradition to Italy, where he faces a 27-year prison sentence.
Authorities placed Bertulazzi under house arrest in 2024 ahead of his transfer to Italy. The former member of the Red Brigades, a radical Marxist group active in Italy during the 1970s and 1980s, had been confined to his home in the Argentine capital since then.
The security ministry’s statement did not specify how Bertulazzi obtained or used the harness to flee. Official details on the precise circumstances of the escape remain limited.
Bertulazzi’s extradition relates to convictions for crimes linked to his involvement in the Red Brigades, which carried out kidnappings, assassinations, and bombings during Italy’s "Years of Lead" period. The group’s violent campaign aimed to destabilize the Italian state.
After decades of evasion, Bertulazzi’s arrest in Buenos Aires was seen as a significant step toward finalizing long-delayed justice. His sudden flight complicates those efforts.
The Argentine authorities have not disclosed if a manhunt is underway or if they have leads on Bertulazzi’s whereabouts. Italy’s justice ministry has yet to comment publicly on the escape.
Bertulazzi’s case remains one of the last unresolved chapters tied to the Red Brigades. His ability to slip away from house arrest at his age raises questions about the security measures in place.
The use of a harness suggests a planned and physically demanding escape. It is unusual for a detainee under such restrictions to break free without assistance or oversight failures.
Argentina has cooperated with Italy on extraditions of former militants before, but Bertulazzi’s case had drawn particular attention given the length of his sentence and the history involved.
This incident will likely add pressure on both Argentine and Italian authorities to review their protocols and recapture Bertulazzi quickly. The escape interrupts what had seemed a nearing conclusion to a decades-old legal pursuit.
No further information has been released about Bertulazzi’s current status or the responses from either government.
According to The Guardian.
