Brazil's supreme court will examine the case of ex-terrorist this month or next month, the court's chief justice Gilmar Mendes was cited as saying in Brazilian daily O Globo Monday.
The court will either decide to archive an Italian request to have Cesare Battisti extradited, accepting a decision by Brazilian Justice Minister Tarso Genro last month to grant him political asylum, or it will decide if the Brazilian government acted incorrectly in the affair.
Genro told journalists he believed his ''original decision will be upheld'' when the court examines the case.
The minister cited a similar case in which the court backed up the government's decision to grant asylum to a Colombian guerilla rebel who Colombia wanted extradited.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini had earlier expressed confidence that Brazil's supreme court would overturn the minister's decision on Monday.
''I'm confident in the strong legal case we have and we're going to go all the way,'' Frattini told reporters.
Italy has appealed to the court to have Battisti extradited to Italy where he must serve life for four murders.
Italian Foreign Undersecretary Alfredo Mantica said Monday he hoped the court would make its ruling by February 10.
According to a poll by O Globo on Monday, 82% of Brazilians believe Battisti should be extradited, while 17% back Genro's decision to grant him political asylum.
Sales of a book Battisti wrote about his experiences of fleeing Italian justice - the only one of his works to have been published in Brazil - have meanwhile risen by 20% here this year, according to his publisher.
Battisti became a successful crime writer during the 15 years he spent in France.
