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Cesare Battisti has acknowledged his responsibility in four murders for which he is sentenced to life imprisonment in Italy. Detained in a prison in Sardinia, the former far-left terrorist of the 1970s said he had acted in wartime and apologized to the families of the victims.
With our correspondent in Rome, Anne Tréca
During his 38-year career, including fifteen years in France, Cesare Battisti had always said he was innocent, a victim of political persecution. He had been protected in France, Mexico, Brazil. He had made a life of recognized author, defended by other intellectuals.
→ RELIRE: Cesare Battisti, end of a rush that will have lasted 38 years
Delivered to the Italian courts by Brazil at the beginning of the year, he has since been detained in Sardinia, in a high security penitentiary. It was there that a public prosecutor collected the first confessions of guilt of the former member of the Armed Proletarians for Communism.
Sentenced to life imprisonment for four homicides, injuries and numerous burglaries committed during the lead years in Italy, the writer was 22 years old at the time and wanted to remake the world. He has 64 today, is changed and sick.
He recognizes that the transition to the armed struggle was a mistake that wiped out the hopes for social progress of the revolutionary movement of 1968. He regrets the pain he may have caused to the families of the victims.
In Italy, Cesare Battisti did not have many defenders. These confessions and late remorse are received with a certain coldness.