PARIS – The alleged violation of the guarantees of “due process” is one of the reasons why the Chamber of instruction of the Paris Court of Appeal has decided to reject the extradition requests for the ten Italians convicted of terrorist offenses in Italy, including the former manager of Lotta Continua Giorgio Pietrostefanithe former Red Brigades Marina Petrella e Roberta Cappelli and the former Pac militant Luigi Bergamin. “Avis défavorable” is written in the document of the decision adopted last Wednesday and the reasons for which are only now known in their entirety. After a year and three months of examination passed in examining the applications, with long hearings and an immense amount of documents provided by Italy, the French magistrates decide to close the procedure by insisting in particular on article 6 of the European Court of Human Rights on respect for “due process”.
Macron’s turning point on former terrorists: “We with Italy, we evaluate the appeal”
by our correspondent Anais Ginori
According to the French magistrates, the guarantees for the defendants in the proceedings in Italy were not respected because they were judged in absentia. “The sentence in absentia – it is written in the reasons filed – is incompatible with international law if an applicant who has not unequivocally renounced his right to appear is not given the opportunity to obtain the celebration of a new trial on the merits”. According to the Paris court, the mechanism envisaged by the Italian law for convictions in absentia is not compatible with Article 6 because it does not guarantee the convicted person in absentia an unconditional right to appeal, as the acceptance of the request is conditional. to the non-voluntary removal, to the knowledge of the documents and to an evaluation by the judicial authority.
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by Liana Milella
In short, by rejecting the ten questions as a whole, the French magistrates, rather than examining case by case, once again question the Italian judicial system, taking up the arguments of the former terrorists’ lawyers used in the past to contest definitive sentences. It is a point that will continue to fuel the controversy between Italy and France also because the ECHR had argued the opposite of what the Chambre d’Instruction now writes precisely in the case of extradition which concerned Cesare Battisti. The reasons for the unfavorable opinion against Italy’s requests also refer to Article 8 on respect for private and family life. It is another point on which the defense of the former terrorists of the Years of Lead insisted during the hearings: all the refugees from the armed struggle welcomed in the Eighties according to the so-called ‘Mitterrand Doctrine’ integrated into French society and built a family. with children and grandchildren.
The red shadows of Paris: those 10 former terrorists who remained prisoners of their inaction
by Piero Colaprico
Wednesday’s decision can still be challenged in the Supreme Court but the attorney general should do so Rémy Heitz. Political pressure is strong. Emmanuel Macron declared that former Italian terrorists should be “judged in Italy”, a message that confirms that the Elysée is in favor of an even more in-depth examination of the questions coming from Italy. On the other hand, it was Macron who gave the green light to the procedure in the spring of last year, recognizing the wound opened in Italy by this dispute that has lasted for more than forty years. Now the time is short: the attorney general will have to say within this week if he will present an appeal, foreseen only in the case of a serious defect.