“Cesare Battisti is not a friend and in that, I have not let emotions affect my work. I reacted as a historian who sees a historical truth being buried under lies.” Fred Vargas is not one to be discouraged, and her bibliography is one of the many proofs of this. In her bibliography, there is a book titled “The Truth about Cesare Battisti” in which the writer, with evidence, details that Cesare Battisti’s conviction is not as transparent as the Italian state would have us believe. But what shocks Fred Vargas the most in her daily fight is the failure to honor a presidential promise given to Italians who sought refuge in France during or after the infamous “Years of Lead.”
Convinced, like others, that Cesare Battisti’s arrest in Brazil had been orchestrated long ago by Nicolas Sarkozy, coincidentally at the very start of the presidential campaign and just days before his departure from the Ministry of the Interior, she now hopes that Battisti’s extradition to Italy will never happen and that political asylum will be granted to the Italian writer. No doubt, the planned meeting between the Italian Prime Minister, Romano Prodi, and the Brazilian President, Luis Inacio Lula, will have a hot topic on the negotiation table. In the meantime, the Brazilian government has given 40 days to its Italian counterpart to present a formal extradition request, which will be judged by the Supreme Court of the country.
This case could take two years of investigation and has elicited reactions from numerous political figures in France and Brazil, where a Deputy has even taken up the cause for the former Italian activist.
Nice Premium, therefore, went to meet Fred Vargas to ask for “her truths about Cesare Battisti.”
Nice Premium: Fred Vargas, you are Cesare Battisti’s most significant support. How did you experience this arrest?
Fred Vargas: It shocked me, but it did not surprise me. I had long feared the arrival of March 2007, because of the elections. The longer Sarkozy clung to his post at the Interior, the more credible the threat became.
NP: Many politicians are asking for a new trial for Cesare Battisti. What do you think about this possibility?
FV: They are right; it’s the absolute legal obligation before any decision of imprisonment. Battisti has the inalienable right to explain himself once in his life before his judges. But this is not the Italian law. And how can a trial be envisioned without the presence of Battisti’s accuser, Pietro Mutti, who disappeared from Italy with the help of justice after his denunciations? If the trial cannot be held, then it is not possible to extradite Battisti. But let’s be clear that the original legal fault (the extradition) is French. A deliberate fault, a fault orchestrated.
NP: They say Prodi is quite embarrassed by Nicolas Sarkozy’s gift. Does this version resonate with you?
FV: Honestly, I have no idea!
NP: Do you think the attempt to seek political asylum in Brazil is a good solution for Battisti?
FV: Yes, absolutely.
NP: “I have never killed anyone.” Shouldn’t this statement lead to the possibility of a retrial after a conviction in absentia?
FV: Obviously! But the issue for Battisti is not being “retried,” but tried in the first place. I’ve been trying to make people understand for 3 years that Battisti has NEVER been tried for homicide. His trial in ’79 in Italy was about his membership in an armed band, for which he was sentenced to 12 years and 10 months. He had been serving this sentence for two years when he escaped, BEFORE the start of the trials for homicides.
NP: Finally, what makes the Battisti case front-page news in France, Italy, and Europe?
FV: As for the French news: because Sarkozy decided to arrest Battisti at the date he thought would benefit him for the elections. He could have arrested him much earlier.
For Italy: because of the terrible propaganda that Berlusconi had launched on his media in 2004.
