Failed extradition no barrier to Italy-Brazil relations

Protesters have gathered outside the Brazilian embassy in Rome to express their outrage at the decision by former Brazilian President Lula da Silva not to extradite convicted killer, Cesare Battisti.

Despite the growing anger in Italy, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said relations with Brazil remain solid.

Alberto Torregiani, the son of one Battisti’s victims, who himself was injured in the gun battle that killed his father, is keen to see Battisti back in Italy:

“Berlusconi offered me a news conference at the European level in order to put our case to all those who want to know the truth,” he said.

Battisti was convicted of four murders during a period of left-wing violence in 1970’s Italy known as the “Years of Lead”.

He escaped from an Italian jail in 1981 and spent years in France, benefiting from a policy introduced by the then president Francois Mitterand granting refuge to Italian leftists.

In 2004 he fled to Brazil where he was arrested three years later following a request by Interpol.

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