The Paris Court of Appeal has rejected extradition requests for ten former Italian far-left terrorists who have fled to the country. The Court’s Chambre de l’Instruction referred to Articles 8 and 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Among the former red terrorists is the former Lotta Continua militant Giorgio Pietrostefani, convicted in Italy as one of the instigators of the murder of Commissioner Calabresi.
From the Calabresi murder to that of General Enrico Galvaligi: who are the former 10 brigades who will not return to Italy
The extradition requests concern the former Br Giovanni Alimonti, Roberta Cappelli, Marina Petrella, Sergio Tornaghi, Maurizio Di Marzio, Enzo Calvitti; the former militant of Workers’ Autonomy Raffaele Ventura; the former militant of the Armed Proletarians Luigi Bergamin; the former member of the armed forces against territorial power, Narciso Manenti.
Mario Calabresi warns in the sentence of the Court of Appeal of Paris “the bitter taste of the French system, which for decades has guaranteed impunity to a group of people who have committed blood crimes”. “Today perhaps the former terrorists will celebrate for having escaped forever – Calabresi tells ANSA – but I also wish them to feel the need to deal with their responsibilities and the courage to contribute to the truth. We cannot think that time can remedy or cancel the responsibility or the guilt of having taken the life of another man ».
Justice Minister Marta Cartabia commented: «I respect the decisions of the French judiciary, which acts in full independence. I am waiting to know the reasons for a sentence that denies all extraditions without distinction. This is a long-awaited sentence by the victims and by the whole country, which concerns a dramatic and still painful page in our history ».
Lega deputy Daniele Belotti unrolled a banner outside the Court of Appeal to ask for justice. Together with the parliamentarian there was also the deputy mayor of Telgate (Bergamo) Cristian Bertoli: it is the municipality of origin of Narciso Manenti sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of the carabiniere Giuseppe Gurrieri, killed in front of his 11-year-old son in March 1979. For this, in the French capital there were also Roberto Frambosi and Michele Taddei, President and deputy of the Carabinieri Association of Bergamo, named after the murdered soldier.
The issue has returned to the fore in recent months: on March 24, Le Monde gives the news of the acceleration on the requests for extradition of ten former left-wing terrorists by the Court of Appeal of the Paris court, underlining that the practices had been relaunched in 2019 by the then minister Matteo Salvini. “Other than ‘European solidarity’, protecting terrorists who killed in Italy is a shame, it’s disgusting! ‘”, Says Lega leader Matteo Salvini.