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We do not allow the murder of Alfredo Cospito, on hunger strike since October 20th. Call for international mobilization

On October 20th, anarchist Alfredo Cospito, during a trial at the Sassari surveillance court, made an attempt to read an articulate statement in which he was about to announce that he is starting a hunger strike against the 41 bis prison regime to which he is subjected and against life imprisonment without possibility of parole. A battle that Alfredo does not intend to stop, until his own death. The comrade, who has been in 41 bis since last May 5th, under a decree signed by then Minister of Justice Marta Cartabia, is now being detained in the Bancali prison in Sardinia.

Alfredo Cospito is an anarchist who has always been at the front line of struggles, never willing to compromise or give up. He is a comrade who has been fighting since the late 1980s, a period in which he was imprisoned as a total objector (for refusing to serve in the obligatory military service) and who, after his arrest in 2012, during the trial that followed, claimed the responsibility for the shooting of Ansaldo Nucleare executive Roberto Adinolfi, an act that was carried out by Nucleo Olga / Federazione Anarchica Informale – Fronte Rivoluzionario Internazionale, FAI-FRI (“Olga Nucleus” / Informal Anarchist Federation – International Revolutionary Front), and occurred on May 7th of the same year in Genoa.

Alfredo has been always active in the defense of comrades affected by repression, in every corner of the world. His struggle objectively concerns all detainees, among whom we particularly remember the three militants of Brigate Rosse per la costruzione del Partito Comunista Combattente (Red Brigades for the construction of the Combatant Communist Party) locked up for more than 17 years in 41 bis (Nadia Lioce, Roberto Morandi, Marco Mezzasalma). In 2009, comrade Diana Blefari, from the same organization, committed suicide after her living in this harsh prison regime.

Alfredo has been uninterruptedly in prison for 10 years, which he spent in High Security sections until his transfer to 41 bis. In 2016 he was involved in repressive operation “Scripta Manent”, accused of subversive association with the purpose of terrorism and multiple explosive attacks. Following a Supreme Court verdict in July this year, the sentence for Alfredo and Anna Beniamino was reformulated to “political massacre,” the only punishment which means prison for life. The Italian state that has always been protecting fascist mass murderers now wants to condemn two anarchists for massacre for an attack that caused neither victims nor injuries.

Alfredo has been for many years contributing articles, editorial projects and proposals to the international anarchist debate. For this reason, he has been censored several times and banned from communicating with the outside world, being condemned for the publication of the revolutionary anarchist paper “KNO3” and the latest edition of “Croce Nera Anarchica” (“Anarchist Black Cross”) and currently under investigation for the publication of the anarchist newspaper “Vetriolo”. After these measures, Alfredo was imposed to 41 bis in May and subsequently transferred from Terni prison to that of Bancali, in Sassari. This blocks him from any contact with the outside world.

The 41 bis serves to totally isolate the prisoner from the outside world. The measure is imposed for four years, but in fact the only way to get out is to repent and cooperate with the repressive forces. In other words, 41 bis is torture, as it is designed to induce suffering for the purpose of extorting confessions or statements.

This prison regime implies one hour of visitation per month with glass dividing, under electronic surveillance, and with audio and video recording. Only if family members do not have the opportunity to go to the interview, a monthly 10-minute phone call is allowed as an alternative to the prison visit, but in order to do so, the family member of the detainee must go to a Carabinieri station or inside a prison. In addition, there is only one hour of air time and social time inside the section, which take place in groups consisting of a minimum of two to a maximum of four prisoners: the division into groups is decided directly by the bureaucrats’ offices in Rome and it applies for several months.

The 41 bis is a prison regime of annihilation, it is designed to cause physical and mental damage through the technique of sensory deprivation; it is a political and social death sentence designed to break all forms of contact with the outside world. Alfredo’s treatment reminds us of the words attributed to Benito Mussolini about Gramsci: “This brain must be prevented from functioning for twenty years”.

An example of the black hole into which one ends up once enters 41 bis is precisely what happened on October 20th during the hearing at the Sassari surveillance court. In this hearing, the sympathizers were prevented from entering the courtroom, the comrade was connected via videoconference from prison as prescribed by 41 bis rules, and when he attempted to read his statement, his voice was taken away by pressing a button. The statement is secreted by the judges; if the lawyers released it, they would risk a heavy criminal sentence.

The story of the comrade Alfredo Cospito is entangled with an increasingly of dark repressive climate in the country. Outside the anarchist movement, we are also witnessing the increasingly oppressive repression against workers, students, and social movements. Let us cite the most striking case: this summer the prosecutor’s office in Piacenza opened an investigation against trade unionists accusing them of “extortion” because they were demanding, through a “radical” struggle (picketing and roadblocks), salary increases from the bosses.

We want to be understood even abroad that the repressive decline that the Italian state is adopting affects everyone personally, since a precedent of this magnitude in the heart of Europe could be a harbinger of further repressive rushes in other latitudes as well. All these are happening while the social crisis and the international military crisis are getting worse by the day. We know that these are the ideal contexts for governments to implement authoritarian turns. We have a few weeks to save Alfredo Cospito’s life, to prevent his assassination, but most importantly to give a signal of counterattack to what is happening. The state is responsible for the life and health of our comrade. Let’s mobilize around the world, let’s pressure the Italian state so that Alfredo can be released from 41 bis.

Comrades