France/Italy

Sarkozy will extradite former Red Brigades member

Article published on the 2008-07-09 Latest update 2008-07-10 07:53 TU

A demonstrator rallies against Petrella's extradition to Italy.
(File photo: AFP)

French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced that he will extradite former Red Brigades member Marina Petrella to Italy, but has asked Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for clemency, taking into account her health and the length of time that had passed since she was a member of the far-left armed group. Sarkozy announced the decision from the G8 summit in Japan, when he spoke to Berlusconi on the sidelines of the meeting.

Sarkozy told reporters that Berlusconi "shared my view and that he would intervene with the Italian president to try to obtain clemency".

Petrella was sentenced in absentia to life in prison by a court in Rome in 1992 for killing a police officer and seriously wounding his driver. She was also charged with staging an armed attack.

She has been in France since 1990 and has been in a psychiatric hospital outside of Paris. Her lawyer said that Petrella's psychological state has severely worsened and she has refused food.

Petrella had been a member of the left-wing armed group the Red Brigades that was formed in the 1970s. The group has since been disbanded.

They had sought to create a revolutionary state through armed struggle and attempted to separate Italy from the Western alliance. This violent period of Italian history has been called the "years of lead" for all the bullets spent during that time.