SAO PAULO (AP) — A Brazilian supreme court judge has ordered the arrest of an Italian communist militant convicted of murder in his home country.
The Supreme Federal Tribunal's website said Justice Luiz Fux ordered the arrest of Cesare Battisti on Thursday but that the president would have the final word over his extradition to Italy.
Battisti escaped from Italian prison in 1981 while awaiting trial on four counts of murder allegedly committed when he was a member of the Armed Proletarians for Communism. He was convicted in absentia in 1990.
He has acknowledged membership in the group but has denied killing anyone.
Battisti was in Brazil in 2007, prompting the Italian government to request his extradition.
But former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva granted him asylum in 2010.
