He lowers himself from the balcony with a harness: the daring escape from Buenos Aires of the former BR Bertulazzi

An escape worthy of a film that of Leonardo Bertulazzi. At 74 years old, the former BR terrorist, who escaped from house arrest yesterday in the imminence of extradition to Italy, lowered himself from the balcony of his house on the fifth floor using a harness and after managing to remove the electronic bracelet on his ankle.

The Buenos Aires police confirmed the circumstances of the daring escape while a manhunt is underway throughout Argentina to capture the historic exponent of the Genoese column of the Red Brigades sentenced in Italy to 27 years in prison for the kidnapping of the Genoese armor Pietro Costa.

Apparently, it was not the first time that Bertulazzi had left house arrest in his home in San Telma, in the historic center of Buenos Aires, where he had been forced for two years. In 2024, in fact, the terrorist (a fugitive in Italy for 46 years and who took refuge in Argentina in 1980) had his refugee status revoked and the man was placed under house arrest. Now the extradition procedure requested from the Milei government by Italy finally seemed to have been successful, the last appeal for health reasons presented by Bertulazzi's lawyers had been rejected and Interpol was ready to bring the man back to Italy.

Yesterday the news of the escape. According to the reconstruction of the Argentine police, Bertulazzi removed the electronic bracelet on his ankle and would have used an electronic device to continue to have the bracelet transmit body temperature values, thus preventing the alarm from being triggered. Only after a few hours, noticing that the position indicated by the monitoring device was not moving, the police went to Bertulazzi's house and found it deserted. There was only the modified electronic bracelet. From the cameras present in the area it then emerged that Bertulazzi lowered himself into the street using a harness. And this despite his alleged precarious health conditions. According to his lawyer, in fact, Bertulazzi had suffered a stroke three times in recent years and was waiting for a new specialist visit.

The former BR had found refuge in Argentina with his partner in the 1980s when he left Italy after taking part in the seizure of the Pietro Costa armor which had yielded a ransom of one and a half billion old lire also used to purchase an apartment in Rome where Aldo Moro was held prisoner.

The Italian police and Interpol had managed to track him down and arrest him in Buenos Aires in 2002 but the Argentine court did not recognize the 27-year prison sentence in absentia issued by the Italian judges. And Bertulazzi returned free, also obtaining refugee status which was later revoked in 2024, when he was arrested again and placed under house arrest given his state of health and advanced age. Last year the Argentine Court of Cassation accepted the extradition request presented by Italy but the terrorist's lawyers had so far managed to avoid it by presenting a series of appeals for health reasons. The last one had been rejected. Hence Bertulazzi's decision to flee.