The trial in the first instance of one of the two parts of “Operation City,” related to the March 4, 2023 demonstration in solidarity with Alfredo Cospito (who at that time had been on hunger strike for months against Article 41 bis and life imprisonment without the possibility of parole), concluded last Thursday, April 16. As a result, all the defendants were found guilty and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 18 months to 5.5 years.
The charges of conspiracy to commit devastation and looting, which had already been rejected by the defendants, were dropped by the courts, reducing them to conspiracy to commit aggravated damage and conspiracy to commit assault against a public official. During the session, 18 sentences were handed down, ranging from five and a half years to one and a half years in prison, as well as substantial fines to the Turin City Council (€33,000), various companies (approximately €13,000), and the legal costs of the civil prosecution (€16,000) for 16 of the defendants. As the defense lawyers emphasized, most of the defendants were not convicted for specific actions or events, but rather for “moral complicity” or “facilitating the conduct of others.”
ACCOUNT FROM AN ACCUSED COMRADE:
The trial in one of the two parts of Operation City, related to the March 4, 2023, demonstration in solidarity with Alfredo Cospito, who had been on hunger strike for months against Article 41 bis and life imprisonment without parole, concluded on April 16, 2026. On that day, thousands of comrades and supporters marched through the center of Turin, demonstrating with fury and leaving behind only a small fraction of the violence unleashed everywhere by various governments and their armed forces. The charges of conspiracy to commit devastation and looting, which had already been rejected by the defendants, were also dropped by the courts, reduced to conspiracy to commit aggravated damage and conspiracy to commit assault against a public official. All the defendants were found guilty and sentenced to terms ranging from 18 months to 5.5 years.
Meanwhile, the trial of other comrades accused in connection with the same day of protest is also underway, a separate procedure to expedite the so-called first phase.
On March 10, during the preliminary hearing, the investigating judge dismissed the charges against the suspects who had been arrested before the start of the march, accused of minor offenses (Article 115 of the Penal Code), despite the prosecutor’s request for their conditional release. The comrades accused of complicity in acts of vandalism, aggravated resistance, and possession of offensive objects have been sent to trial, and a hearing has been scheduled for November 11, 2026: a total of 29 charges.
We reiterate that Alfredo Cospito remains subjected to the torture regime of Article 41-bis, and that this will likely be extended in the coming days. That period of struggle alongside Alfredo succeeded in placing state torture and the vengeful “justice” of courts and politicians at the center of public debate, highlighting their contradictions. But the fight against Article 41-bis continues.
In any case, no regrets.
Submitted to La Zarzamora