Preparing for the worst: possible extradition to Italy of comrade Gabriel Pombo Da Silva

9.5.26

We recall that in December 2025, our comrade was arrested under an international arrest warrant (EAW issued from Italy). His detention lasted five hours until Judge Pedraz granted him provisional release with the conditions of signing in and a travel ban. This EAW stems from one of Italy’s many repressive operations: “Operation Scripta Manent” in 2016, which resulted in Gabriel being sentenced to two years’ prison in 2022 for incitement to commit crime. At the end of November last year, the Turin court announced that it would not accept the alternative measures to imprisonment requested by the lawyer due to a “lack of self-criticism of his own values” (a rather apt metaphor to emphasize his lack of remorse), thus paving the way for the execution of the sentence. This is why the EAW was issued: Judge Pedraz considered this offence a crime of opinion and therefore did not order imprisonment, requesting certain documentation from both parties.

A few days ago, a court order arrived, signed by the same judge, who, while partly agreeing with one side and partly with the other, facilitates the possible extradition of Gabriel to Italy if certain requirements are met.

For the moment, we are not interested in commenting on the legal details, although it is interesting to see how states use their labyrinthine “truths” to justify witch-hunts. This is an extremely contradictory ruling, full of lies, where the Italians have played with the psychology of propaganda, extrapolating words and concepts from Gabriel’s conviction to justify their request.

This ruling closes the investigatory phase, it is not final and the lawyer is appealing it; even though there are no legal grounds for Gabriel to serve his sentence in Italian prisons, it is not difficult to interpret this ruling as one of the many manoeuvres that the Italian state has been using for years to continue collecting its war trophies.

In a few weeks, the prosecutor and the lawyer will present their arguments at a hearing in the National Court.

We’ve always known that legal reasons won’t prevail, but rather political and personal vengeance. Dignified fighters must be punished in an exemplary manner. That’s why there’s no surprise, and we’re preparing for the worst, stronger than ever.

Updates to follow.

Gabriel and Elisa

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Translated by Act for freedom now!