Main article image: Guy Smallman
On 20 February, supporters of the Revolutionary Communist Group/Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! staged a protest in solidarity with Italian political prisoner Alfredo Cospito, unfurling a banner over Holborn Viaduct near the Italian consulate in London before marching to the diplomatic mission itself. There we read out the statement below and called for an end to Italian state torture of Cospito, who is currently on hunger strike against the inhumane, cruel and unusual punishment he is being subjected to, and freedom for all political prisoners. 41-bis is torture and we hold the Italian state responsible for this attempt to slowly murder Alfredo Cospito.
The Italian anarchist Alfredo Cospito is serving his tenth year of imprisonment in an Italian jail for committing political crimes. Since May 2022, he has been placed in a much more rigid detention regime, known as 41 bis, after an article of the Italian criminal code. He is currently on hunger strike to protest against the 41 bis regime and life imprisonment until natural death. He has done over 120 days of strike, and his health conditions are quickly deteriorating. He has lost more than 40 kilos and is forced to use a wheelchair.
Alfredo Cospito in Italian court
The 41 bis regime was introduced in Italy allegedly to combat the mafia after the killings of judges Falcone and Borsellino. This special detention regime aims to avoid contact between the inmate and other people, inside or outside, to prevent ordering new criminal acts from behind bars. Since its introduction, the 41 bis regime has been used against prisoners of all sorts, extending its applicability to terrorist crimes, abduction and sexual violence and effectively constituting an additional layer of punishment instead of a measure to prevent new crimes. The 41 bis regime has also been declared a form of torture by the European Court of Human Rights.
(photo: Guy Smallman)
Alfredo Cospito has been imprisoned in a cell measuring one metre by two metres, without any contact with the outside world and with only one visit per month behind a screen. He doesn’t have access to any recreational or social activity and can’t leave his cell. It is even forbidden to hang posters on the wall. Now he has been moved to a clinical section of the prison due to his medical conditions, but the restrictions in place are the same.
We want to express our solidarity with Alfredo Cospito and all political prisoners in the world.
41 bis is torture! Free Alfredo Cospito!
