Cospito: 'Article 41bis prevents you from existing'
He said it at the trial of six activists in Bologna. A complaint against the measure has been submitted.
Cospito at Bologna trial: 'Article 41bis denies existence'
Alfredo Cospito, an anarchist prisoner held under the article 41bis regime, declared before the Bologna court that high-security imprisonment "prevents you from existing". ANSA Cronaca reports the words spoken by the defendant in the course of the trial against six activists.
Cospito spoke in the Bologna courtroom to describe the conditions imposed by the special detention regime provided for under article 41bis of the penitentiary system. According to reports, the man argued that such a measure does not merely restrict physical freedom, but affects the very identity of the prisoner.
The complaint against the measure
In parallel with the hearing, a formal complaint has been submitted against the order imposing the article 41bis regime against Cospito. The complaint represents one of the ordinary legal instruments through which prisoners subjected to such a regime can contest its legitimacy or the manner of its application.
The article 41bis regime, initially introduced as an emergency measure during the mafia massacres of the 1990s, provides for the substantial isolation of the prisoner, with severe restrictions on visits, correspondence and contact with the outside. Its application to Cospito — considered a leading figure in the insurrectionist anarchist sphere — had already prompted, between 2022 and 2023, a prolonged hunger strike by the man and widespread public debate on the proportionality of the measure in relation to his criminal status.
The trial of six activists
The proceeding underway in Bologna concerns six people linked to anarchist circles. The presence of Cospito as a witness or party in the proceedings confers additional public significance on a trial that is part of a judicial season characterised by investigations into networks of radical activism in various Italian cities.
No further details have been disclosed regarding the specific charges against the six defendants or the outcome of the hearing in which Cospito made his statements.
Source: ANSA Cronaca