A CALL FOR INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY: NO COMRADE WILL BE LEFT ALONE IN THE HANDS OF REPRESSION!
Alfredo Cospito is an anarchist comrade jailed since 2012, initially arrested and sentenced (along with another comrade) for kneecapping the CEO of Ansaldo Nucleare. He has served his sentence for that crime (the other comrade is now free), but he is currently serving a 23-year sentence issued in the “Scripta Manent” trial. This was a repressive operation against 20 years of FAI/FRI actions. Comrade Anna Beniamino is also serving a 17-year sentence for this repressive operation.
In May 2022, he was placed in 41 bis, a “harsh prison” regime invented in the ’90s to psychologically annihilate mafia “chiefs” and force them to cooperate. It is now extended to over 700 prisoners, including members of revolutionary groups such as BR-PCC. In October 2022, Alfredo began a six-month hunger strike against the 41-bis regime and life sentences without parole, his likely fate according to the terrorism and political massacre charges (and the prosecutor’s request), which essentially amounts to a death sentence while alive. He chose to risk his life because fighting until his last breath was worth it rather than being sentenced to the “tomb of the living,” which is precisely 41 bis.
A huge mobilization supported his struggle and gained incredible resonance, especially thanks to widespread international actions. For the first time in Italy, this “untouchable” anti-Mafia tool was publicly questioned. His hunger strike ended in April 2023 without most of his requests being met. However, he finally avoided life imprisonment after his case was brought to the Constitutional Court.
Now, three years later, 41 bis is increasingly a model for repression in the EU and beyond. Both Chile and, more recently, the Netherlands are adopting this torture tool in their prison systems. As Alfredo stated in his latest communiqué in court during a January 2025 trial:
“If the imperialist war of the West spills over from Ukraine’s borders and reaches our doorsteps, if social conflicts surpass the sustainable limit of a fragile system, or if a gradual transition to a regime is not feasible, 41bis, with its veneer of legality, will be the ideal tool for forced social anesthetization. It will be a kind of castor oil to bring recalcitrant elements into line—a gradual coup d’état in accordance with the law. This would explain why an emergency regime is needed in the absence of a real emergency.”
Alfredo’s four-year 41bis term will expire in May 2026. Before signing the expected two-year renewal, the Minister of Justice will hear the opinions of the Anti-Mafia and Anti-Terrorism departments. It is worth noting that Minister Carlo Nordio recently played a key role in the swift and sudden release and repatriation of Al-Masri, who was arrested in Italy on the orders of the International Criminal Court. This move could be interpreted as a sign of gratitude for his outstanding work on behalf of the Italian government in torture camps for migrants in Libya.
We have nothing to ask nor hope for from the state. In fact, we are its enemies, and it treats us as such. In recent years, several trials have begun against comrades accused of participating in the mobilization in various ways. This demonstrates once again that one of the main aims of repression is to attack solidarity. This should not cause us to withdraw but rather provide an opportunity for a new beginning. We want to continue the struggle with Alfredo against the prison regime that has him locked up so that he knows, despite his total isolation, that his comrades are there and will not leave him alone.
However, we also want it for ourselves. We conceive of active and combative solidarity with prisoners as an integral part of the perspectives and projects we develop toward anarchy and against the prison society in which we all live.
Solidarity knows no boundaries or nations.
Let’s take up the weapon of solidarity!
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