Image source, AFP via Getty Images
A movie escape.
Leonardo Bertulazzi, a 74-year-old Italian and former member of the Red Brigades who was under house arrest in a home in the San Telmo neighborhood of Buenos Aires, escaped through a balcony using a harness.
The man was detained after the Supreme Court of Argentina last year approved his extradition to Italy to serve a 27-year prison sentence.
According to the AP news agency, the fugitive removed an electronic anklet before escaping and manipulated it with a thermal blanket and what could be fat or animal meat.
"He got off the fifth floor with a harness. First he took off the electronic anklet and placed it in a tube with pork," authorities told the Argentine newspaper La Nación.
Bertulazzi was found guilty of a kidnapping perpetrated by the group to which he belonged. In Italy he was convicted in 1987 for illicit association and membership in an armed gang.
The Red Brigades were an Italian far-left armed organization. They were active especially between 1970 and the end of the 80s, and were the most important group of the so-called anni di piombo ("years of lead"), a period of political violence in the European country.
With a Marxist-Leninist ideology, this armed group injured and killed dozens of magistrates, politicians, journalists and industrialists.
End of Most read
image copyrightGetty Images
By manipulating the electronic anklet, the device continued to transmit body temperature measurements even after his escape.
"Then he climbed onto a roof and, with a rope, went down five meters until he jumped onto a vacant lot that overlooks the back of the building where he lived. Later he climbed a metal gate to gain access to the street," he added.
Authorities told local media that they became suspicious when they noticed that the label had remained motionless.
The Argentine government announced on Wednesday a reward of 20 million pesos (approximately US$13,000) for any information leading to his whereabouts, according to a resolution published in the Official Gazette.
Bertulazzi remained under house arrest in the Argentine capital since August 2024, the AFP agency reported. The Argentine government headed by Javier Milei had revoked his refugee status.
He knew how to make bombs
Bertulazzi spent decades as a fugitive after being convicted in absentia in Italy.
Argentina gave the green light to his extradition to Italy in July 2025, after the Supreme Court rejected his latest challenge. His transfer was imminent.
Due to his age, he was placed under house arrest.
According to the Argentine newspaper Clarín, the police, concerned about Bertulazzi's past and his ability to make bombs, requested the intervention of explosives experts given the possibility that the device with the electronic anklet had been prepared to detonate.
Likewise, a nationwide search and capture operation has been launched.
Bertulazzi was first arrested after using a false passport to cross into Argentina from neighboring Chile in 2002.
However, in 2004 he was granted refugee status and lived freely in the South American country until his re-arrest in 2024.
Milei's government declared at the time that "Bertulazzi is responsible for crimes that undermined democratic values and the lives of many victims."
The most infamous crime of the Red Brigades
All the news you need is on BBC World Service
Download it here
End of Ad app
Bertulazzi was part of the Genoa section of the Red Brigades that kidnapped naval engineer Pietro Costa in 1977. He was held for 81 days before receiving a large ransom.
The money obtained from the kidnapping was later used to buy an apartment in Rome, which in 1978 was used for the Red Brigades' most infamous crime: the kidnapping and murder of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro.
Moro was captured after his car was ambushed on the way to the inauguration of Parliament. He was held in his apartment for 54 days before being shot dead and his body left in the trunk of a Renault in the center of the Italian capital.
The red star group, which had been nourished by radicals expelled from the Italian Communist Party and other formations, intended to unleash a revolution in Italy through armed struggle.
This article was originally written in English and we used an artificial intelligence tool to translate it. A BBC journalist reviewed the text before publication. Learn more about how we use AI.
Download the new BBC World Service app. Choose BBC News Mundo and receive news alerts, documentaries and analysis, all in one place. Important: The new app is not available in the United Kingdom or the United States.
You can also follow us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X and our WhatsApp channel.
And don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter here to receive a special selection of our best content every Friday.
Discover more
Video
End of Video
