Rome - Cesare Battisti arrested and then later released, following the withdrawal of his right to asylum. 

 Former left-wing terrorist Battisti, 60, was arrested in the Brazilian town of Embu das Artes, in the country’s Sao Paolo region, after a judge ruled earlier this month that he should be deported. After just seven hours of incarceration the Italian was released pending an appeal. Authorities have indicated that he will remain in the vicinity of the regional Sao Paolo police station until the extradition takes place.

 Convicted of the murder of four people, Battisti escaped from prison in Italy in 1981 whilst awaiting trial. He then fled to France, where he was one of a group of far-left Italian guerrillas to be offered sanctuary by then President François Mitterrand, on the condition that they renounce their past, steer clear of politics and do not go into hiding. However, this sanctuary was withdrawn 15 years later. Battisti spent some time in Mexico after fleeing from France and has been in Brazil since 2004, where he was formally granted asylum in 2010.

 The fugitive will be sent to either France or Mexico rather than Italy but, in an interview with radio station France Info, former French president Nicolas Sarkozy claimed: “The issue of Cesare Battisti’s extradition also affects Italian society, which must turn over a new leaf after those terrible years.”

 Battisti’s lawyer, Igor Sant’Anna Tamasauska, told Italian agency ANSA that the idea of a request for Battisti’s extradition to Italy was “absurd”, before adding that he did not want to comment on what was being said in his client’s home country.