Alfredo Cospito

On 20 October 2022, Cospito began an indefinite hunger strike against the conditions of the 41-bis regime. In support, anarchist groups held demonstrations in Bologna, Turin and Rome, with other anarchist prisoners throughout Europe entering hunger strike in solidarity with the struggle against 41-bis such as Juan Sorroche and Anna Beniamino in Italy and Ivan Alocco in France. There have been multiple attacks and actions in various countries across the world including for example protests and actions against the Italian embassy in Chile and various actions in solidarity in Greece, such as on the 2nd of December a Greek anarchist group called Revenge Cell "Carlo Giuliani", taking it's namesake from the protestor killed during the 2001 Genoa G8 summit, set alight two empty cars of senior Italian diplomat Susanna Schlein within the garage of her private residences, leading to an unusually large media and political interest. The alleged perpetrators released a communique five days later via Athens indymedia. The communique cited the reasons around Cospito's protest against the 41-bis regime, stating "The 41 bis is a regime of political, social and sensory extermination, aimed at the complete elimination of all contact with the outside world. Comrade, no matter how much they try to bury you, we will never forget you" as well as critiquing the migration and asylum policies of the Meloni government.

A letter sent to the Corriere della Sera newspaper claimed responsibility for the shooting on behalf of the Olga Nucleus of the Informal Anarchist Federation. The name was a reference to Olga Ikonomidou, an imprisoned member of the Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei. In 2013, Cospito was arrested with his accomplice in Turin and convicted of the shooting. He received a sentence of ten years and eight months.

Cospito was born in Pescara in 1967 and lived in Turin. On 7 May 2012, he rode on a motorbike with his accomplice to the Genoa house of Roberto Adinolfi, the head of the Italian nuclear power company Ansaldo Nucleare. Cospito shot Adinolfi in the leg, kneecapping him. This was a tactic used previously by the Red Brigades.

Following Operation Scripta Manent in which the Divisione Investigazioni Generali e Operazioni Speciali (DIGOS) targeted Italian anarchist communities, Cospito was also charged regarding a 2006 bombing of a Carabinieri Cadet School near to Turin, claimed by 'Rivolta Anonima e Tremenda / Federazione Anarchica Informal', in which there were no casualties. The Court of Cassation then ruled that the crime had a terrorist function, so the sentence was upgraded to life without parole. Cospito was also entered into the Article 41-bis prison regime in Bancali prison, Sassari on Sardinia on account of his continued connection to the anarchist movement. The 41-bis directive was first created to stop mafia bosses communicating with their outside organizations and involves solitary confinement for 22 hours every day, with visits restricted to one hour per month. All access to rehabilitation programs is blocked. Over 200 criminal lawyers and jurists signed a letter condemning the judicial treatment of Cospito.

Alfredo Cospito (born 1967) is an Italian anarchist. After kneecapping the head of the Italian nuclear power company Ansaldo Nucleare in 2012, he was convicted in 2014 and sentenced to ten years imprisonment. His sentence was then increased to life without parole for his involvement in a 2006 bombing, although nobody was hurt. Cospito was placed in the restrictive Article 41-bis prison regime in a Sardinian prison and in response began an indefinite hunger strike in October 2022. His protest against 41-bis was supported by demonstrations in Bologna, Turin, Rome and Florence, and an attack on the car of an Italian diplomat in Athens. It received support from other imprisoned anarchist and communist militants, some of whom joined the hunger strike.