[see the article in polish here]
Alfredo Cospito is an Italian anarchist, environmental activist and member of the Federazione Anarchica Informale (FAI), who is serving a life sentence for planting bombs in the cadet barracks of the Carabinieri Corps in Fossano in 2006. In a statement, the FAI wrote: „We hit the Carabinieri school in Fossano so that from an early age they are aware of the awe that their criminal military career evokes in us, the exploited.”
No one was killed in the blasts and Cospito was initially sentenced to 20 years in prison, but the Italian Supreme Court changed his sentence to life imprisonment. At the time, he was already serving 10 years in prison for another action.
In May 2012, Cospito shot Roberto Adinolfi, the head of the Italian nuclear energy company Ansaldo Nucleare, three times in the leg. In September, Cospito and his partner, Nicola Gai, were arrested by the services and convicted.
05.10.2022, Article 41-bis was applied to Alfredo, which allows the Minister of Justice to strip prisoners of certain rights. The banned prisoner is forced to stay 22 hours a day in solitary confinement, limits the possibility of visits to one hour a month, and only allows family members to do so, prohibits the use of the prison telephone, taking part in physical and artistic activities and receiving packages from outside. It is worth noting that already in 2007, the ECtHR found 41 bis to be incompatible with the ECHR.
In protest, Alfredo Cospito started a hunger strike on 20.10. which continues to this day, during which time he lost 47 kilos and was hospitalised. More than 200 lawyers signed a petition asking the Minister of Justice to remove the article from Cospito, as did Amnesty International and even the Italian Attorney General, who filed a petition of cassation with the court. The Supreme Court of Cassation is due to consider 24.02.2023.
The Italian state has no regard for Alfredo’s life, as the man who directly hit his structures is therefore torturing him and waiting for him to die, and is not concerned about his health „because he is a bad terrorist”. The very concept of imprisonment is dehumanising and authoritarian, let alone Article 41 bis. 🕊️
Although we do not agree with Alfredo Cospito on all issues, we do not condone the torture of anyone, we stand in solidarity with him and hope that not only Article 41 bis will be removed from him, but also his life sentence. Solidarity is our weapon! ✊
