The examination of the extradition requests of ten ex-militants of the Italian far left resumes in Paris
Giorgio Pietrostefani, on the right, chats with his lawyer Irène Terrel as he arrives for an extradition hearing, at the Paris court, Wednesday May 5, 2021. AP - Thibault Camus
Text by: Juliette Gheerbrant Follow
2 mins
Examination of the extradition requests of ten ex-militants of the Italian extreme left, formulated by Rome, resumes today in Paris.
All were convicted in absentia in cases related to far-left terrorism in the years of lead, in the 1970s. The proceedings started a year ago had been interrupted for further information.
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This Wednesday, the Parisian magistrates decide the fate of Enzo Calvitti, a retired psychotherapist, 67, sentenced in Italy to 18 years in prison for association with terrorists and armed gangs.
The judges are also examining the case of Giorgio Pietrostefani, 78, seriously ill, accused of having ordered the assassination of Commissioner Calabresi.
By arresting ten former Italian far-left activists last year, Emmanuel Macron acceded for the first time in 40 years to a repeated request from Italy.
For Rome, it is a question of applying the rule of law and rendering justice to the relatives of the victims.
For the defense, it is a reversal contrary to law and justice.
“
Under cover of so-called justice, we are trying, in any case the political authorities, to manufacture injustice
”, summarizes master Irène Terrel, lawyer for Giorgio Pietrostefani.
It's still the unthinkable that is happening
The reaction of master Irène Terrel, lawyer for Giorgio Pietrostefani
Like 300 to 400 Italians who arrived in France in the 1980s, these two men enjoyed political asylum after renouncing violence.
This is the Mitterrand doctrine, never questioned by the successors of the socialist president and implemented in a context of extreme tension and controversial exceptional law on the other side of the Alps.
During the 1970s, against the backdrop of the Cold War, Italy indeed counted the victims, victims of violence and targeted assassinations of the far left, such as Judge Aldo Moro in 1978, and victims of the bomb attacks committed by the extreme right, like that of Fontana square in Rome in 1969 or that of Bologna station in 1980. And 40 years later, this memory of the years of lead is still not appeased.
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To read also: Why Macron arrested former members of the Italian Red Brigades
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