Former Italian communist militant Cesare Battisti is to be flown directly from Santa Cruz where he was captured, to Rome, without passing by Brazil. Former President Lula had allowed Battisti a safe haven.
Italy had repeatedly sought the extradition of Battisti. The convicted murderer lived in Brazil for years under the protection of former leftist president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is now in prison for corruption.
Battisti, a founding member of far-left Italian radical group Armed Proletarians for Communism, was convicted in absentia in 1993 of four political killings committed in the 1970s and sentenced to life in prison in Italy. The 63-year-old has maintained his innocence.
Battisti was detained late Saturday in Santa Cruz and is to be flown directly to Rome in a plane sent by Italian authorities. The white aircraft with an Italian flag landed in the rain at Viru Viru airport on Sunday afternoon.
There was a suggestion Battisti would be sent to Brazil but Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte posted on Facebook that he would "return to Italy in the coming hours, on a flight leaving from Santa Cruz directly to Rome."
Bolsonaro's 'little gift' to Italy
President Jair Bolsonaro, who was inaugurated this month, had previously expressed his intention to allow Battisti's extradition as a "little gift." The Brazilian government, then under former leftist President Luiz Inacio, refused an extradition request in 2011.
Bolsonaro's son Eduardo, a lawmaker in the Chamber of Deputies, praised the arrest on Twitter.
"Brazil is no longer the land of outlaws. @matteosalvinimi, the 'little gift' is on his way," he wrote addressing Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini praised the Bolivian police and the Brazilian government. He called Battisti a "delinquent who doesn't deserve to live comfortably on the beach but rather to finish his days in prison."
A life on the run
Italy sought the extradition of Battisti, after he escaped from an Italian prison in 1981 and fled to France and then Mexico before arriving in Brazil, where he settled in 2004.
Brazilian judges in December ordered the arrest of Battisti and an extradition order was signed a day later by outgoing president Michel Temer.
Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right president in quotes
Right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro was elected to Brazil's highest office on a wave of controversial statements ranging from homophobic to misogynist. DW looks at some of his most eyebrow-raising remarks.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/E. Peres
'Straight to the dictatorship'
Bolsonaro has criticized the very democracy that won him the presidency. In a 1999 TV interview, he said he would shut down Congress if he ever became president. "There is no doubt: I would perform a coup on the same day. And I'm sure that at least 90 percent of the population would celebrate and applaud because [Congress] doesn't work," Bolsonaro said. "Let's go straight to the dictatorship."
Image: picture-alliance/AP/L. Correra
'Rape'
Four years ago, Bolsonaro engaged in a heated debate with Brazilian lawmaker Maria do Rosario. During the debate, he said: "I wouldn't rape you because you don't deserve it." Shortly after, he defended himself, saying he wasn't a rapist. However, he added that if he were a rapist, he wouldn't touch do Rosario because she is "ugly."
Image: Agencia Brasil/M. Camargo
'Moment of weakness'
In a speech at Rio de Janeiro's Hebraica Club in April 2017, Bolsonaro spoke about his family. "I have five children. Four are men, and then in a moment of weakness the fifth came out a girl," he said.
Image: Getty Images/AP/L. Correa
'Prefer my son to die'
LGBT activists have long railed against Bolsonaro for his homophobic stance. But in a 2011 Playboy magazine interview, Bolsonaro made things personal, saying he "would be incapable of loving a homosexual son … I would prefer my son to die in an accident than show up with a mustachioed man." In May 2002, he said that if he saw "two men kissing each other on the street" he would "beat them up."
Image: Getty Images/AFP/M. Schincariol
'No means to control their offspring'
Bolsonaro has often belittled impoverished communities. But in 2008, he took things a step further by suggesting poor people should be prevented from bearing children. Birth control "methods have to be provided for those who, unfortunately, are ignorant and have no means to control their offspring because we [as the upper middle class] are able to control ours."
