Word: petrella
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...only the latest twist in the long, tormented, and increasingly surreal relationship between Italy and France over the treatment of former leftist terrorists. On Oct. 12 the Elysée confirmed Sarkozy had annulled a government decree issued in June to deliver former Red Brigades member Marina Petrella to Italian authorities. Italy has long sought the return of Petrella, 58, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1992. The court found her guilty of participating in 1981 terrorist actions that resulted in the killing of a police officer and the kidnapping of a judge. She absconded...
...Since she was put in a French prison, however, Petrella has descended into a profound depression. Her family and doctors say she has lost the will to live, her body weight has fallen to 85 lbs., and that further detention would probably kill her. Citing that prognosis, Sarkozy reversed the extradition order, leaving Petrella a free - albeit seriously ill - woman in France...
...victims of extreme leftists who terrorized Italy during the 1970s and 1980s weren't outraged enough by Sarkozy's climb-down on Petrella, their fury was presumably further stoked at learning the back story of the move: Sarkozy's Italian-born wife, Carla Bruni, and her sister, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, had lobbied the President not to extradite the gravely ill Petrella to Rome - it even fell to the sisters to personally break the news of that reprieve to the former terrorist. "We could not let this woman die," Bruni told the daily Libération Monday in explaining her intervention...
...take responsibility for his actions. "We ask a very simple question to the French authorities and the French people: What if the situation was reversed? What if French people had been shot and murdered and kidnapped, and the Italian government was providing sanctuary to the culprits?" Della Rocca said Petrella's medical condition would be cared for just as well in Italy, which has a health and legal system renowned for protecting the rights of the infirmed. "The irony anyway is that for the victims and survivors of the Red Brigades, there wasn't any psychological treatment back then...
...Given the gravity of Petrella's condition and the publicity her case has generated, Sarkozy wrote Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi in July, promising to deliver Petrella, but asking that "a measure of clemency be considered for her, as soon as possible", given her flawless behavior since coming to France. Days later, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano ruled out any quick pardons for Petrella, citing her "numerous and extremely serious terrorist crimes". That's a view supported by the outraged Italians who were injured or lost loved ones in Red Brigades attacks and want to see justice finally served...