Former Br Bertulazzi's request for release from prison denied

On Friday 30, the Argentinean judiciary rejected the request for the release of former Br Leonardo Bertulazzi's defence. This was reported by sources in the court overseeing the case. The decision was made by judge Maria Romilda Servini de Cubria at the end of a hearing held earlier in the day, during which the former Br's arrest was officially validated.

Bertulazzi is serving 27 years for kidnapping, subversive association and armed gang. A fugitive since 1980, he was among those responsible for the kidnapping of engineer Piero Costa in Genoa in 1977.

Already arrested in 2002 in Buenos Aires, following a complex investigation conducted by the Central Directorate of the Prevention Police, together with the Genoa Digos and Interpol, he was released a few months later. Bertulazzi, a member of the Genoa column of the Red Brigades, is to serve a total sentence of 27 years imprisonment for kidnapping, subversive association, armed gang and others. A fugitive since 1980, he was guilty, among other crimes, of participating in the kidnapping of naval engineer Piero Costa, which took place in Genoa on 12 January 1977. The purpose of the kidnapping was to acquire financial means to subsidise terrorist activity; 50 million lire were used to buy the flat in Via Montalcini 8 in Rome, where Aldo Moro was held prisoner for the period of his kidnapping. The Argentine Police carried out the restrictive measure in the presence of the Italian Intelligence and of executives and operators of the police forces in service at the Central Directorate of Prevention Police, the Genoa Digos and the Service for International Police Cooperation, who had been present in Buenos Aires for several weeks.

"The President of the Council of Ministers, Giorgia Meloni, expresses her deep appreciation to the Argentinean authorities for carrying out the arrest of Leonardo Bertulazzi, already sentenced in Italy to 27 years in prison for terrorist crimes, following the revocation of his refugee status by the Argentinean Refugee Commission. The arrest of the fugitive member of the Red Brigades was made possible by an intense and fruitful cooperation between the Italian, Argentinean and Interpol judicial authorities'. A note from Palazzo Chigi reads.