A high court appeal hearing by
Italian anarchist leader Alfredo Cospito against the
unprecedentedly tough prison regime over which he has been on
hunger strike for three months was set for April 20 on
Wednesday.
The supreme Court of Cassation will thus hear the appeal against
the mafia-style 41 bis prison regime in three months' time.
Amnesty International on Tuesday made a fresh appeal for
Cospito, who has lost over 40kg in his almost 100-day hunger
strike against the 41 bis regimen.
"Alfredo Cospito has now reached almost 100 days of hunger
strike," said AI on the Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI)
leader, the first Italian anarchist to be placed under the
41-bis regime.
"We reiterate that it is the duty of the Italian authorities to
fulfil their obligations to protect and respect the detainee's
human rights, also taking into account the harsh conditions of
the 41 bis regime to which he is subjected."
Cospito, 55, on January 13 appealed to Italy's justice minister
against his prison conditions.
Normally only jailed mafiosi are subjected to the regime, which
mandates almost complete isolation from the outside world.
Cospito had already appealed to the Supreme Court of Cassation
on December 27.
Cospito, who has been sentenced to four years of 41 bis while he
is serving two sentences totalling 30 years for terror attacks,
recently saw an appeal turned down by a Rome surveillance court.
A lawyer for Cospito, whose weight loss has spurred Italy's
inmates ombudsman to voice fears for his life, said the fresh
appeal to Justice Minister Carlo Nordio was "based on new
information, not submitted to the Rome surveillance court".
As sit-ins and demos in favour of Cospito continue daily,
judicial sources said the case would first have to go to Turin
prosecutors again before Nordio can examine the plea.
A number of high-ranking magistrates have issued an appeal to
save Cospito's life.
There have been several recent FAI attacks in support of
Cospito.
Judges recently ruled that Cospito should stay under the 41 bis
conditions because otherwise there was a risk of his running FAI
operations from inside jail.
On December 9 Greek anarchists linked to FAI claimed
responsibility for the firebombing of two cars belonging to an
Italian diplomat in the Greek capital a week previously.
The Greek group, which calls itself after a protester killed by
a Carabiniere in self-defence at the 2001 Genoa G8 riots, said
they were acting in solidarity with Cospito.
The group, Carlo Giuliani Vendetta Nucleus, said it was
supporting the hunger strike of Cospito, who is serving 20 years
for a bomb attack on a Carabinieri training academy at Fossano
near Cuneo in Piedmont in 2006 and a further 10 years and eight
months for wounding Ansaldo Nucleare Managing Director Roberto
Adinolfi in Genoa in 2012.
The carbomb attacks against Athens embassy counsellor Susanna
Schlein, sister of centre-left Democratic Party (PD) leadership
candidate Elly Schlein, took place at dawn on Friday December 2
and were soon attributed to anarchists like the FAI, who had
shouted threatening slogans during Cospito's recent appeals
trial.
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Schlein survived the
attacks "by a miracle".
Both Schlein sisters have now been assigned police protection.
After the firebombings, FAI militants issued the mocking message
"Susanna Schlein should learn to park".
Rome prosecutors said last month they were opening a probe into
arson attacks on ATMs and rubbish containers in two parts of the
Italian capital on a recent Saturday night by Cospito
supporters.
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