Update on the review hearing for re-examination of the precautionary measures in operation Sibilla and statements of some of the comrades under investigation (Perugia, Italy, March 14, 2023)
The hearing for re-examination of the precautionary measures for anarchists in operation Sibilla of November 11th, 2021, took place on March 14th in the bunker courtroom inside the prison of Capanne in Perugia. It concerned the comrades for whom measures were ordered on charges of incitement to commit a crime (art. 414 of criminal code), aggravated by the aim of terrorism, in connection with the drafting, publication and distribution of the first six issues of the anarchist newspaper ‘Vetriolo’ and other articles and interventions. Among the comrades under investigation are Alfredo Cospito, on hunger strike for over 140 days, and Gianluca, currently under house arrest for a year now for the investigation Diamante.
This second re-examination resulted from the Court of Cassation’s ruling last June granting the prosecutor Manuela Comodi’s request, annulling the previous order of the review court which had revoked the precautionary measures in December 2021.
Alfredo Cospito participated in the hearing by video link from the Milan prison of Opera and three comrades under investigation were present in the courtroom in the Perugia prison of Capanne. The hearing took place behind closed doors, while there were around 40 comrades in solidarity outside. The three comrades under investigation who attended the hearing in the bunker courtroom spoke (two of them with written statements) and each greeted Alfredo warmly. Alfredo made a long statement, in which he was very lucid and was loaded with his usual sarcasm (‘I prefer comedy to melodrama’).‘I want to start with the words of my instigator’, he began, quoting a stance of the current minister of justice Nordio going back to 2019 concerning 41 bis. The comrade then reiterated the meaning and perspective of the hunger strike against the detention regime, which he called a ‘medieval muzzle’ and a ‘metastasis that will spread to political dissent’. Alfredo said he does not accept this non-life and will go on until the end. ‘For anarchists, who have no organisation, the given word is everything’. That is why he will keep his word, going on to the bitter end. ‘I will leave with dignity. I hope that those who love me understand that’. The comrade wished to point out that, in the situation in which he is imprisoned, ‘the only remnants of light I see are the acts of my anarchist brothers and sisters around the world’, ‘Thank you anarchists. I love you’. Finally, he concluded: ‘Abolition of the 41 bis regime. Abolition of life imprisonment without parole. Solidarity with all anarchist, communist and revolutionary prisoners in the world’.
Unfortunately, due to the peculiarities of 41 bis, designed specifically to gag prisoners, Alfredo’s full statement is not currently available. We will release it as soon as possible.
After a ridiculous intervention by prosecutor Manuela Comodi who swore that the ‘Perugia public prosecutor’s office is totally uninvolved in the 41 bis measure’, in open contradiction with the words of her boss Cantone (also present in court today), the hearing was closed and the court reserved its decision on the precautionary measures against the investigated comrades.
The decision to move the venue of the hearing to the bunker courtroom of Capanne prison was an obvious attempt to remove the initiative in solidarity with Alfredo away from the city centre. This aim was not achieved because after the hearing the solidarity presence reconvened at the canteen of the University of Perugia, where a banner was unfurled, leaflets were distributed and megaphone interventions were held for over an hour.
Awaiting the release of Alfredo Cospito’s text, we attach below the statements of two comrades under investigation.
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Declaration of Michele Fabiani at the review hearing for re-examination of the precautionary measures of operation Sibilla
If I am speaking here, it is mainly to send a warm greeting to a comrade who is fighting like a lion, putting his own life in grave danger, to let the world know about the horrors of 41 bis.
My contribution, certainly more modest, is to use this hearing to break the isolation, to sabotage the 41 bis, to let Alfredo know that he is not alone, that his struggle is shaking consciences (for those who still have one, a conscience).
On the other hand, I do not think I am going off topic with respect to what is being discussed today. And not only because of the obvious connections between these proceedings and the 41 bis to which one of the comrades under investigation is subjected, but rather because in both cases we see the same mentality at work: the opinion that the custodians of order have of the anarchist movement is in fact based on the social models they have been trained to follow all their lives.
It is therefore worth remembering the obvious: anarchists do not have leaders, they do not give and receive orders, they do not elaborate and are not guided by any directives. The concept of ‘incitement’ therefore presents an unpleasant note, unacceptable to any anarchist: the idea that one urges others to do things that the instigator does not have the courage to do himself.
The concept of incitement, moreover, presents itself as an eminent symptom of what we might call the ‘paranoid thinking’ of the ruling classes at this moment in history. The underlying idea is that our society is a kind of Eden, a paradise on earth. Therefore, if someone commits ‘sin’, it can only be because there is a tempting serpent, a devilish instigator, instigating rebellion.
A complete reversal of reality in which you do not realise the enormous injustices that exist, from war to the workplace. Yours is a hallucinated view of the world: this society is not paradise, but hell. Those who rebel do so because they have matured the determination to end it all.
I would like to make it clear that what I am saying here is not to be understood as a kind of ‘defence’ against the accusations made against me.
Indeed, I want to reiterate that I am not afraid of these proceedings. For any decent person – and not only for anarchists, where this statement is always valid – the most disreputable role in proceedings where the body of the crime is books and newspapers is surely that of the accuser and not the accused. If only because, should Alfredo die, some of his murderers will be sitting in the dock.
Anarchism is not the product of a scholar or a philosopher but is a wild blossom of the class struggle. That is why you will not be able to shut us up. Alfredo’s struggle against 41 bis has shown us this for the umpteenth time: you wanted to silence him forever, his ideas have never been so widespread.
I have tried and cannot imagine what your days are like in this titanic struggle, surrounded by enemies. I just want to shout with all the breath I have: Alfredo you are not alone!
Bars are not enough to lock up anarchy.
Michele Fabiani
Perugia, March 14th, 2023
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Declaration of Francesco Rota at the review hearing for re-examination of the precautionary measures of operation Sibilla
If I am speaking today, it is only to defend and support, again and as always, the comrade Alfredo Cospito and our revolutionary anarchist ideas and practices. The Sibilla inquest, for which we now find ourselves charged with incitement to commit a crime with the aggravating circumstance of the purpose of terrorism in connection with the publication of ‘Vetriolo’ and other articles and interventions, is being shamelessly used to justify and support the detention measure under 41 bis for Alfredo Cospito. With regard to the accusations levelled against us, I have nothing to repent: I take full responsibility for the drafting, publication and distribution of ‘Vetriolo’ and ‘Quale internazionale?’, which I had the joy of doing together with the comrade Alfredo Cospito.
The revolutionary struggle against the State and capital knows no instigations, promoters, coordinators or supposed ‘orientational’ roles. In this sense, I reiterate that the comrade Alfredo Cospito is a revolutionary, not an ‘instigator’. Those who act against the State and capital have already matured such determination that they do not need to be ‘instigated’, because it is autonomy of thought and action that is expressed, not gregariousness and subordination to orders, something that instead characterises servants of the State, certainly not anarchists and revolutionaries.
In these 28 years of my life, I have never stopped fighting and dreaming. I have had the great fortune to know anarchism practically from the beginning and I have matured my convictions not out of acritical adherence but out of an enormous urgency that I have always felt: to overthrow this authoritarian social reality in favour of a world of free beings. Therefore, no one will prevent me from continuing to assert my ideas, such as solidarity with imprisoned anarchists and revolutionaries. Likewise, I have rejoiced and will continue to rejoice at all actions against the State and capital, gleams of consciousness in the dark of the night.
If Alfredo Cospito dies, anyone with a modicum of critical spirit will understand who the instigators, executors and perpetrators of his death are. Today I do not need to tell this comrade of mine to be strong, because it is Alfredo himself, it is you Alfredo, albeit in harsh conditions of imprisonment, who has given strength to the entire anarchist and revolutionary movement. To comrade Alfredo Cospito goes my embrace, with the passion and affection of always.
Viva l’anarchia.
Francesco Rota Sulis
Perugia, March 14th, 2023
PDF in italian language: Aggiornamento sull’udienza di riesame per le misure cautelari dell’operazione Sibilla e dichiarazioni di alcuni compagni indagati (Perugia, 14 marzo 2023)
[Translated into english and published by https://actforfree.noblogs.org/post/2023/03/15/perugiaitaly-14th-march-2023-update-on-the-review-hearing-for-re-examination-of-the-precautionary-measures-in-operation-sibilla-and-statements-of-some-of-the-comrades-under-investigation/ | Published in italian on March 15th at https://lanemesi.noblogs.org/post/2023/03/15/aggiornamento-sulludienza-di-riesame-per-le-misure-cautelari-delloperazione-sibilla-e-dichiarazioni-di-alcuni-compagni-indagati-perugia-14-marzo-2023/]
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(IT) Aggiornamento sull’udienza di riesame per le misure cautelari dell’operazione Sibilla e dichiarazioni di alcuni compagni indagati (Perugia, 14 marzo 2023)
(EN) Update on the review hearing for re-examination of the precautionary measures in operation Sibilla and statements of some of the comrades under investigation (Perugia, Italy, March 14, 2023)
