Italian anarchist’s hunger strike rekindles debate over harsh prison regime
An Italian anarchist on hunger strike over a harsh prison regime usually reserved for mafia bosses has said he “just wants to live”, as his supporters reportedly threatened a serious attack in connection to his case.
Alfredo Cospito has lost about 45kg (7st) since beginning his hunger strike in October, and this week he was transferred from a maximum security prison in Sardinia to Milan’s Opera prison owing to his deteriorating health.
His case has rekindled a fierce debate in Italy over a prison regime known as 41-bis, which involves solitary confinement in tiny cells for inmates considered to be a risk even from inside jail.
It has also provoked a wave of attacks and protests by anarchist groups. Digos, Italy’s anti-terrorism police squad, is investigating after an anonymous call was made on Thursday to the reception of a local newspaper, Il Resto del Carlino, threatening “a serious attack” in Bologna.
Cospito, 55, is serving time for shooting the boss of an energy company in the leg in 2012, and in connection to a 2006 bomb attack on a police academy in Fossano, a town in Piedmont, which caused no injuries, as well as other non-fatal attacks.
He was moved into 41-bis, also known as “hard prison”, last May after allegedly sending messages to fellow anarchists urging them to launch attacks.
Cospito is thought to be the only anarchist imprisoned under the regime, which allows prisoners one monthly visit from family members and a telephone call. He has appealed to Italy’s supreme court against his imprisonment in the regime, and a hearing is due to take place on 7 March. However, there are concerns that he could die before the hearing.
Cospito is continuing his hunger strike in a quest to improve conditions in 41-bis, according to Michele Usuelli, a doctor and regional councillor in Lombardy with the small leftwing party +Europa, who visited him in the clinic of the Opera prison. Prisoners in the regime are banned from reading and have access only to three national radio stations. Cospito was prevented from keeping a photo of his late parents in his cell.
“He was very skinny but also reactive and could easily stand up in front of me for 30 minutes from behind a barrier,” Usuelli said. “He told me ‘I want to live’ but at the same time he wants to win the fight and is not afraid to die. He agrees that the regime is good for the security of the country and that people there shouldn’t communicate with the outside world … but he wants more humane treatment.”
Usuelli said he had urged Cospito to condemn the violence by his fellow anarchists and to stop his hunger strike until the violence ends. In recent days, Cospito’s supporters have torched cars belonging to officials, and acts of vandalism are rising across Italy, prompting the Italian government to increase security, including at its foreign consulates.
“I told him that if he resumes eating and condemns the violent acts, that would give power to his position,” Usuelli said. “He said he is not necessarily happy about the things that are happening but that as an anarchist he can’t tell others what they should do.
He said he would think about it but that as of now he doesn’t feel like it.”
The rightwing government of the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, is refusing to show Cospito any sympathy, saying it would not give in to anyone who threatens the state. The justice minister, Carlo Nordio, said 41-bis “would not be touched”, adding that the series of attacks proved that the regime was required.