Cesare Battisti gets regime progression and becomes common prisoner in Italy

Terrorist Cesare Battisti, who is serving a life sentence in Italy for four murders that took place in the late 1970s, was promoted to prison regime at the end of September.

From a high security prison in Ferrara, he was transferred to a common regime unit in Parma, both in the north of the country. The penalty, however, remains the same.

The decision followed a request from Battisti’s defense and was issued by the Department of Prison Administration. There was also a course of evaluations that included the Milan Public Ministry, through the anti-terrorism sector, which expressed itself favorably.

In the opinion, among the reasons for authorizing the regime change are the considerations that the group in which Battisti worked, the Proletarians Armed by Communism (PAC), no longer exists and that he has no contact with terrorists in the armed struggle. . Authorities also reviewed his level of danger, which is now considered lower than when he returned to the Italian prison system in January 2019.

Battisti, 67, spent nearly 40 years as a fugitive from Italian justice. In 1981, he escaped from prison and passed through France and Mexico before being arrested in Brazil in 2007. He stayed in the country for a total of 14 years, benefiting from a decision by then-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) —in On the last day of his second term, he granted Battisti political refuge.

Up until now, the shelter for terrorists has provoked friction with Italy, which asked for extradition, and with the Federal Supreme Court, which even annulled the concession. In 2018, the arrest was determined by the STF, and the Michel Temer government (MDB) prepared the extradition, but Battisti was once again considered a fugitive. In January 2019, he was arrested in Bolivia and returned to Italy, where he was first sent to maximum security.

In the intermediate regime in which he found himself, in Ferrara, he could relate to other detainees in the same condition and worked internally. Now, with the transition to the common regime, he will have a normal prison life and will be able to live with more prisoners and under the same conditions as them, less restrictive, for visits and correspondence.

In theory, Battisti may request progression to the semi-open regime in the future. But his history as a fugitive, according to experts, makes a positive response from justice unlikely.

The transfer to Parma, under the common regime, was criticized by relatives of victims and by politicians from the far-right Brothers of Italy party, led by Giorgia Meloni, the most voted in the last elections in the country. Deputy Andrea Delle Vedove called the decision a shame and aberration, accusing the prison department of acting before the new government takes over.

“The impunity of red terrorism is certainly not the policy that we are going to put in the field,” he said.

The process began months ago and reached the Public Prosecutor’s Office in early May, when the assent to the update to the common regime was prepared. At that point, the change of government was not foreseen – the election would only be brought forward at the end of July, after the fall of the Mario Draghi government. The rite is considered administrative, not political.

The son of a jeweler who was murdered, one of the crimes for which Battisti was convicted, Alberto Torregiani said he disagreed with the decision and told the Italian press that he would appeal.

According to Roberto Cavalieri, responsible for monitoring the condition of detainees in the Emilia-Romagna region, this is a technical measure based on rules and laws. “The amendment does not mean that the prison administration nullifies the fact that he committed terrorist crimes and does not affect the conviction he received.”