Seven former members of the Italian Red Brigades arrested in France

France has detained seven former members of the Italian Red Brigades convicted in their country for acts of terrorism on Wednesday and is looking for three more who were not at home at the time the security forces came to arrest them. Paris assures that the measure, which will be followed by a long judicial extradition process, "strictly" complies with the

Mitterrand doctrine,

which for decades allowed former left-wing terrorists from the

lead years

to be housed

in Italy, provided they had resigned. to violence and would not have committed "acts of blood", something that, however, has not always been fulfilled.

In any case, the decision, authorized by President Emmanuel Macron, represents a turnaround in a country that has been severely affected by terrorism in recent years and, also, a clear gesture towards the new Italian Government of Mario Draghi, who has celebrated the arrests. "The Government is satisfied that France initiates a judicial procedure, required by Italy, against those responsible for terrorist crimes, which have left an open wound," said the Italian Prime Minister in a statement.

Beyond the long time it took to evaluate the files sent by Italy - a total of 200 extradition requests, of which only 10 have finally been withheld, "for the most serious crimes," underlines the Elysee - the decision to order the arrest of the dozen Italians who have been living in France for decades is also the result of a "Franco-Italian relationship that has been strongly consolidated," French official sources assured journalists after the announcement. "There is a very clear climate of trust" between Macron and Draghi, who recently spoke on this matter, the Elysee insisted.

Among those arrested is Giorgio Pietrostefani, co-founder of the far-left extra-parliamentary organization Lotta Continua.

Pietrostefani was sentenced to 22 years in prison for his role in the 1972 assassination of Milan Police Commissioner Luigi Calabresi.

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The other six captured were all members of the Italian Red Brigades, a far-left armed organization. Among them are Marina Petrella, Roberta Cappelli and Sergio Tornaghi, all with a life sentence for participating in murders and kidnappings, as well as Narciso Manenti, another of those arrested on Wednesday. Giovanni Alimonti, who has just over 11 years to serve for a terrorist attack, and Enzo Calvitti, with a pending sentence of 18 years, have also been arrested, according to the French Prosecutor's Office, which has not revealed, however, the names of the other three claimed that at the moment are still at large.

His extradition to Italy could take years, since all those affected can resort to practically each of the steps, as has happened, for example, in the case of Josu Ternera from ETA since his arrest in May 2019. All cases will be analyzed individually. It is not to be ruled out that a file is rejected by the courts or that there is a last-minute turnaround, as happened with Petrella. The 66-year-old ex-brigadista, already in 2008, was about to be extradited to Italy, although finally the then president, Nicolas Sarkozy, resigned for "humanitarian reasons" due to her health condition, an issue that probably also comes into play in the new extradition process.

Hundreds of people were killed in bombings, assassinations - including then-Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro in 1978 - and street clashes between rival far-right and far-left militant factions during a period of intense social and political upheaval, known as the

Lead Years.

, between the late 1960s and 1980s.

Italy has long sought the extradition of dozens of far-left militants, who were given refuge in France.

The condition for welcoming them was that they renounce the violence of the activities carried out during the years of militancy and that they had not committed murders, although it was a verbal agreement and Mitterrand formulated it in different ways over time, which gave space for an ambiguity in which those claimed by Rome have taken refuge all these years.

Hence, Macron's decision to approve the arrests implies a change in political stance.

This was recalled by the lawyer for five of the detainees, Irène Terrel, for whom the arrest of the ex-brigadistas is an "unspeakable betrayal of France."

"It was France that gave them asylum, the authorities, both left and right, and not François Mitterrand," he told Agence France Presse.

“Since the 1980s, these people have been under the protection of France, they have rebuilt their lives in the last 30 years, they have settled in view of everyone, with their children, their grandchildren… And suddenly, at dawn, they come? to look for them 40 years later? ”, he denounced.

From the Elysee it is admitted that there has been an "evolution" of the

Mitterrand doctrine

and it also points to a change in perspective of France itself, one of the countries most affected in recent years by terrorism that previously knew rather from afar.

"France, herself affected by terrorism, understands the absolute need for justice for the victims," ​​says the Elysee in its official statement.

Through the arrests on Wednesday, the country "is also inscribed in the urgent need to build a Europe of Justice, in which mutual trust must be at the center," he adds.

Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti on Wednesday referred to the detainees as "terrorists" and said he was "proud" of having participated in a decision that he hoped would "allow Italy, after 40 years, to pass a page of its history stained with blood and tears ”.