Alfredo Cospito’s Letter:
My struggle against 41 bis is an individual struggle, I do not give or receive orders. It is simply that I cannot live in an inhuman regime such as 41 bis, where I cannot freely read what I want, books, newspapers, anarchist periodicals, magazines on art and science, as well as literature and history. The only chance I have of getting out of it is to renounce my anarchy and sell someone out to take my place.
A regime where I can’t have any human contact, where I can’t even see or touch a handful of grass or embrace a person I love. A regime where photos of your parents are snatched. Buried alive in a grave in a place of death. I will carry on my struggle to the extreme consequence, not for a ” request ” but because this is not life.
If the aim of the Italian State is to make me “dissociate” from the actions of anarchists outside I want you to know that as a good anarchist I don’t take orders. I believe that everyone is responsible for their own actions, and as part of the self-organising current I am not “associated” with anyone, therefore I cannot “dissociate” myself from anyone. Affinity is another matter. A coherent anarchist does not distance themself from other anarchists out of opportunism or convenience.
I have always claimed my actions with pride (also in court, that’s why I am here) and I have never criticised those of other comrades, much less when there is a situation like the one I find myself in.
The biggest insult for an anarchist is to be accused of giving or taking orders.
When I was in the High Security regime (AS) I also had censorship and I didn’t issue any “pizzini” [Spanish translator’s note: Slips of paper by means of which mafia bosses supposedly pass on their orders] but articles to anarchist newspapers and magazines. And above all I was free to receive books and magazines, write books, read what I wanted; I was even allowed to evolve, to live.
Today I am prepared to die to make the world understand what 41 bis really is; 750 people suffer it without protesting, continuously turned into monsters by the mass media. Now it is my turn, you turned me into a monster as the bloodthirsty terrorist, then sanctified me as the anarchist martyr who sacrifices himself for others, then turned me into a monster again, a terrible spectre. When it is all over, I shall no doubt be raised to the altar of martyrdom. No, thank you, I am not for this, I will not play your dirty political games.
In fact, the real problem of the Italian State is that all the human rights that are violated in this 41 bis regime in the name of a “security” for which everything is sacrificed, will come to light. Good! You should have thought twice before putting an anarchist in here. I don’t know what real motivations and political manoeuvres are behind it. And because someone has used me as a “poisoned apple” in this regime. It was quite difficult not to foresee what my reactions to this “non-life” would be. A State, the Italian one, worthy representative of the hypocrisy of a West that continually gives “morality” lessons to the rest of the world. The 41 bis has given lessons that have been well taken up by “democratic” States such as Turkey (the Kurdish comrades know something about this) and Poland.
I am convinced that my death will be an obstacle to this regime and that the 750 people who have been suffering under it for decades will be able to live a life worth living, whatever they have done.
I love life, I am a happy man, I wouldn’t trade my life for anyone else’s. And it is because I love it that I cannot accept this non-life without hope.
Thank you comrades for your love.
Always for Anarchy.
Never bowed down.
Alfredo Cospito
Update:
In unprecedented delirium the government in Italy is speaking of ‘brutal criminals’ who launch violence against ‘citizens’ (…) ‘with guerrilla warfare, seriously injuring law and order and security officers’ (…) after Saturday’s demonstration in Turin in support of Alfredo Cospito and against the monstrous 41bis regime and life sentence.
The Italian State of exception is calling for VIOLENT REPRESSION of all those supporting Cospito’s cause – for which it has been called upon by the UN to provide evidence that he is being held ‘with respect for his rights and dignity’, a fact which is negated by the very conditions of 41 bis
But the real response has not yet arrived.
The line of the FAI/IRF is clear: ‘If Alfredo dies, you will all pay’, calling to arms all those fighting for freedom.
‘Government and prosecutors constitute the executive implementation.’
Saturday’s demonstration consisted of individuals who came to Turin from over 12 cities in Italy, as well as from other countries (including France, Spain, Germany, France, Spain and Greece).
On Friday 10 March, the Assemblea Popolare movement has planned an event at which – among others – the following will speak – Benedetto Ciccarone (lawyer in the broader defence circle, who visited Alfredo recently), the professor Davide Tutino, member of the Radical Resistance (Resistenza Radicale) and campaign activist ‘Pagine contro la tortura’. The film-documentary ‘Until the Last Breath’ (Fino all’ultimo respiro) will also be screened concerning Alfredo Cospito and Anna Beniamino.
With Alfredo’s health declining and hanging by a thread, the next few days are expected to be critical.
