A masked gang of eight caused a
firecracker explosion and briefly unfurled banners supporting
the jailed hunger-striking anarchist leader Alfredo Cospito
outside the Italian Consulate in New York on Tuesday.
No-one was hurt and no damage was done by the explosion, Italian
foreign ministry sources said Wednesday.
Cospito has been on hunger strike since October to protest
against the tough 41 bis prison regime that he is being held
under and is usually reserved for mafia bosses.
His supporters have embarked on a wave of threats, acts of
vandalism and violent protests, including rioting in Turin in
early March.
The 55-year-old has asked for his prison sentence to be commuted
to house arrest on health grounds amid concerns about his
deteriorating medical condition.
Cospito is serving over 30 years in total in connection with two
separate crimes: a bomb attack on a Carabinieri police training
academy at Fossano near Cuneo in Piedmont in 2006; and
kneecapping Ansaldo Nucleare Managing Director Roberto Adinolfi
in Genoa in 2012.
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