Italy recalls ambassador after Brazil refused to extradite ex-terrorist

Italy recalls ambassador after Brazil refused to extradite ex-terrorist

2011-06-10 22:08:23 GMT+7 (ICT)

ROME, ITALY (BNO NEWS) -- The Italian government on Thursday recalled its ambassador to Brazil after the South American nation refused to extradite ex-terrorist Cesare Battisti, the ANSA news agency reported.

Ambassador Gherardo La Francesca was recalled to Rome by Foreign Minister Franco Frattini for consultations on bilateral accords ahead of Italy's announced appeal to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Tensions between Brazil and Italy escalated on Wednesday after the Brazilian Supreme Court voted six to three to uphold a 2010 decision by former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

President Giorgio Napolitano also condemned the decision and said it breached the bilateral accords between the two nations. Furthermore, the Italian leader wrote to his Brazilian counterpart, Dilma Rousseff, in January in order to get the decision reversed.

Battisti was arrested in Brazil in April 2007, five years after he had fled to that country to avoid extradition to Italy from France. He had lived in France for 15 years and become a successful writer of crime novels.

In January 2009, the Brazilian justice ministry granted Battisti political asylum on the grounds that he would face '"political persecution" in Italy. In November 2009, the Brazil's Supreme Court turned down Battisti's request for asylum.

However, the court added that the Brazilian constitution gave the president personal powers to deny the extradition if he chose to. On Thursday one of Battisti's lawyers said his client decided to continue living in Brazil.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-06-10