RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) --- Brazilian President Michel Temer signed on Friday an order to extradite Italian citizen Cesare Battisti, a long-time fugitive in the country.

The decree follows an order from Supreme Court judge Luiz Fux to arrest Battisti on charges of tax evasion and money laundering at the request of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).

Battisti was accused of four murders in the 1970s and sentenced to life in prison. He fled to Brazil in 2004 and was identified and arrested in 2007.

Italy requested extradition and Battisti called for refuge, denying the accusations and claiming that he was being persecuted politically.

Though the Supreme Court approved the extradition, the then president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, granted him asylum in Brazil.

Police are seeking Battisti, but so far have no clue about his whereabouts, or if he is still in Brazil.

Though Battisti's defense called for an end to the extradition, the order will still be carried out even after Temer leaves office on Dec. 31.

President-elect Jair Bolsonaro has already declared to Italian authorities that he plans to carry out the extradition as soon as possible. Enditem

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