Alfredo Cospito, the hunger strike for the abolition of the 41bis

On 31 October 2022 there were 728, of which 12 women, the 41bis prisoners in Italy, 1.3% of the total number of people in prison in Italy. Most are in L’Aquila, then in Opera, in the Milanese area, and in Sassari. He was moved from this prison to the Milanese one Alfred Cospitothe anarchist who has been on hunger strike for 104 days with the intention, now clearer, to ask for the abolition of the 41bis, the hard prison, the one conceived by Giovanni Falcone and which has become law, with variations over the years, after his death.

What does 41bis provide?

The harsh prison regime provides the isolation in a single cell without the use of common areas. Outdoor hours are reduced to two hours a day and surveillance is constant. There is the possibility of one telephone call per month of a maximum of 10 minutes and one hour-long monthly interview with family members and lawyers. The goal is to avoid contacts between an exponent of organized crime or another association and his organization: whether it is the mafia, Camorra or terrorism. However, some analysts report that this system would not make sense within the anarchist galaxy where there would be separate groups and no hierarchical construction of power.

The government has no intention of changing its line and neither does Cospito. The executive has no intention of allowing itself to be influenced by the attacks and protests of recent days. The rising level of confrontation justifies, in the eyes of the government, the conditions of the 41bis. It also leads more and more the anarchist exponent to become a symbol. Cospito was taken to Milano Opera on the basis of a health indication from the ASL, to have him in a structure complete with a clinical center equipped for emergencies, but only for preventive purposes. Justice Minister Nordio reiterated that “the protection of the health of every prisoner is an absolute priority”.

The 41bis also needs to be protected by the government. If concessions are made, there is a risk that these will also reach the others subjected to hard prison and thelife imprisonment which does not provide for the possibility of assigning outside work, semi-freedom and prison benefits that go to the other prisoners.

Cospito’s position

The fear is that many criminal interests will bind themselves in opposition to Cospito’s 41bis, those of anarchists and other antagonistic groups, but also those of the mafia, terrorism and other criminal organizations. According to reports from the Republic, Alfredo Cospito did not decide to go on hunger strike to get out of the 41bis, but to undermine this prison regime which makes contacts with the outside world impossible and which, in his opinion, is unknown to politicians. He finds that the single cell is a privilege and that the 41bis does not allow the expression of thought. Cospito does not want the therapy that has been prescribed to him, he says he feels good and does not need drugs. He would have told the doctors that he used supplements and sugars and that he had prepared himself for the hunger strike by gaining weight in order to go on as long as possible.

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