Former Red Brigade member Leonardo Bertulazzi, 74, has escaped from the house arrest he was under in Buenos Aires. The General Directorate of Criminal Intelligence has issued an urgent arrest order. He must serve 27 years in prison.
Bertulazzi was under house arrest, granted for health reasons, in an apartment in the San Telmo neighborhood, in the center of Buenos Aires. A few hours before his escape, he had also seen his last appeal against extradition rejected by the Argentine justice system, which this time he had presented for health reasons. Interpol was already ready to pick up the former BR and take him to Italy.
The escape, made known by the Argentine media, was confirmed to ANSA by his lawyer, Rodolfo Yanzon.
MAXIMUM ALERT: IF AN EXINTEGRANTE DE LAS BRIGADAS ROJAS AND PIDEN ESCAPES IN DETENTION 🚨
The Directorate General of Criminal Intelligence issued a red alert to strike Leonardo Bertulazzi (74), the Italian citizen who escaped from his home detention in San Telmo to lose his refugee status. Case against cargo of Jueza Servini.
📱 Read the complete note on the Noticiero 9 website
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— NOTICIERO9 Oficial (@noticiero9ok) November 10, 2026
Who is Leonardo Bertulazzi
Leonardo Bertulazzi in the 1970s was part of the Genoese column of the Red Brigades with the battle name of “Stefano”. He must serve 27 years in prison for the kidnapping of the industrialist Pietro Costa, a subversive association and an armed gang.
Arrested for the first time in 2002, Bertulazzi was freed by an Argentine court, since the country does not allow extradition in cases where a defendant is convicted in absentia. Buenos Aires in the meantime had granted the terrorist the status of political refugee, which was later revoked in 2024 under the government of Javier Milei. In 2024, after 44 years on the run in South America, he was arrested again.
Pietro Costa’s family paid a billion lire ransom. This sum was used by the Red Brigades to purchase the apartment in Via Montalcini in Rome which the following year would become Aldo Moro’s prison.
The lawyer: “He did well, judge not up to par”
“Argentine law clearly establishes that, for health reasons, if a person’s condition does not allow it, he cannot be transferred. This is one of the conditions under which an extradition can be suspended”, underlined the defender. “Leonardo was not in good health and, while in custody during these proceedings, suffered a stroke three times,” Yanzon added.
“The last examination to which he was subjected dates back to last Friday 6 November, at the epilepsy center of the Ramón Mejía hospital. He was prescribed a course of treatment lasting two months and some medical tests were arranged; the first of these, an electroencephalogram, was scheduled for 27 November. This was the situation when I informed Bertulazzi; he undoubtedly made a difficult decision – to flee – which I welcome in any case given that the judge handling the case, Maria Servini de Cubria, was not up to the task of the situation”, concluded Yanzon.