In an unexpected turn of events, a notorious Italian fugitive and former member of the Marxist guerrilla group, the Red Brigades, has escaped from house arrest in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The 74-year-old, Leonardo Bertulazzi, is wanted for his involvement in a kidnapping carried out by the far-left militant group in the 1970s. On Friday, Bertulazzi used a harness to abseil down from a fifth-floor balcony, evading detection due to tampering with his electronic ankle monitor. Authorities had become suspicious when they noticed that the tag remained stationary, leading them to discover Bertulazzi's absence upon entering the apartment.
Police, wary of Bertulazzi's past with the Red Brigades and his bomb-making skills, called in explosives experts to ensure the safety of the scene. The experts found that while Bertulazzi had tampered with the device, he did so to prevent the alarm from sounding once he removed it. A nationwide manhunt is now underway, with Italian media reporting that his extradition to Italy was imminent following the rejection of his last appeal.
Bertulazzi was initially arrested in 2002 after crossing into Argentina from neighboring Chile using a false passport. He was granted refugee status in 2004 and lived freely in the country until his re-arrest in 2024, under the current right-wing president, Javier Milei. Milei's government has stated that Bertulazzi is responsible for crimes that undermined democratic values and caused harm to numerous victims.
As a member of the Red Brigades, Bertulazzi was part of the group's Genoa section that kidnapped Italian naval engineer Pietro Costa in 1977. He held Costa captive for 81 days before receiving a substantial ransom. The money from this kidnapping was later used to purchase a flat in Rome, which was involved in the Red Brigades' most notorious crime - the kidnap and murder of Italian former Prime Minister, Aldo Moro, in 1978.