Former Italian Red Brigades member escapes house arrest in Argentina while awaiting extradition

Argentina’s security ministry confirmed on Wednesday, Nov. 11, that Leonardo Bertulazzi, a 74-year-old former senior member of the Marxist militant group the Red Brigades, has escaped from house arrest in Buenos Aires. Bertulazzi had been held since 2024 pending extradition to Italy to serve a 27-year sentence handed down in 1987 for belonging to an armed group and joining a subversive association. Argentina approved his extradition in July 2025.

Local media reported that Bertulazzi lowered himself from a fifth-floor balcony using a harness, a detail authorities have not confirmed, according to the Kyiv Post. The Guardian reported that he reportedly hid his ankle monitor inside a tube of pork during his escape. The security ministry has offered a $13,000 reward for information leading to his recapture.

Brief written by urgent.news from Kyiv Post, The Guardian — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.