Italian fugitive Cesare Battisti arrested, then released on habeas corpus

After spending about seven hours jailed in a Federal Police building in São Paulo, former Italian activist Cesare Battisti was released around midnight Thursday (Mar. 12) on a habeas corpus.

Battisti was arrested in Embu das Artes, São Paulo, based on a warrant issued by the Federal Court in the Federal District because his permanent resident visa in Brazil was canceled earlier this month, by request of the Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF). The prosecutors argued that the decision of the National Immigration Council to grant the visa (complying with a request by former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva) was illegal.

The Court ruled that the country must seek Battisti's deportation to Mexico or France, where he was before coming to Brazil. The decision can be appealed.

The former Italian activist was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder in his country when he was a member of the Armed Proletarians for Communism group. In 2004, Battisti fled to Brazil, where he was arrested three years later. The Italian government filed for his extradition, and their request was granted by Brazil's Supreme Court (STF). However, on the last day of his term as president, in December 2010, President Lula decided that Battisti should stay in Brazil.

Translated by Mayra Borges

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