Italian fugitive could be sent home

The head of Brazil's Supreme Court has said that convicted fugitive Cesare Battisti may be extradited if he is found to be in the country illegally, in a reversal from the Lula government's position.

"If the Supreme Court decides that is not within the terms of the (bilateral extradition treaty), he will have to be extradited," said Judge Cezar Peluso told reporters about the Italian former leftwing militant's presence in Brazil.

The fugitive has been convicted in Italy for the murders of four people in the 1970s, and Rome has repeatedly sought his return.

The full Supreme Court is due to weigh the legality of Lula's decision when it reconvenes in February, after a summer vacation recess.

Battisti previously sought his freedom following Brazilian ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's decision on his last day in office, December 31, to refuse Italy's extradition demand.

Lula's rebuff of its extradition demand has infuriated Italy, which considers Battisti a "terrorist" and has been seeking his return for the past three decades. In 1993, he was convicted in absentia for the murders.

Battisti, 56, has been kept in a Brasilia jail for the past three years as the extradition efforts played out.

He previously lived in Mexico and in France, where he started a new career as a crime novelist.

Battisti maintains his innocence, claiming Italy is persecuting him.

Peluso earlier this month said he found nothing in the court documents to suggest such persecution, and found no compelling argument justifying Battisti's release pending the court's decision.

He also signaled his skepticism of Lula's stance, writing in his ruling that the Supreme Court has already last year determined that no legal grounds existed to make Battisti a refugee.

Although Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has vowed to pursue the matter, he insists the affair will not affect ties between Brazil and Italy.

The issue is one of the first big foreign policy problems faced by Lula's successor, Dilma Rousseff, who took over as Brazilian president early this month.

(Published by Yahoo! News - January 19, 2011)