Reuters – ROME, Jan. 31 – The case of hunger striker Alfredo Cospito has inspired anarchist threats against Italian embassies around the world, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani warned on Tuesday.
A 55-year-old Italian anarchist named Cospito has been on hunger strike for over a hundred days to protest his isolation in prison as part of the harsh “41 bis” policy.
At a news conference in Rome, Tajani said, “We are raising security in all of our embassies and consulates because at the moment international anarchists are mobilised against the Italian state.”
An anarchist group in Greece said they set fire to the home of an Italian diplomat in December as a show of support for the exiled anarchist leader, Cospito.
Although this was described by Tajani as the “most serious incident to date,” he also reported numerous other attacks, acts of vandalism, and demonstrations that have occurred since November.
The Italian embassies, consulates, and cultural institutes in Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Germany, and Switzerland have all been attacked, he claimed.
The national ombudsman for prisoners requested that Cospito be transferred from a prison in Sardinia to one in Milan with better access to medical care, and on Monday, he was transferred.
The inmate is reportedly so weak that he has trouble walking and staying warm, and he is only able to sustain himself on a diet of water, sugar, and honey. He has lost more than 40 kilogrammes (88 pounds).
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The right-wing government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has ruled out relaxing his detention regime, claiming it will not cave in the face of threats or terrorist attacks.
The “41 bis” is a special security cell for high-ranking Mafia members that is meant to cut off all contact with outside associates.
In May, the regime took control of Cospito’s life after he published articles from prison encouraging fellow anarchists to keep up the fight with violence.
In 2012, he shot a nuclear energy manager but didn’t kill him, and in 2016, he attempted to bomb a police academy but didn’t harm anyone.
Cospito was given a sentence of 30 years in prison, but the prosecution is appealing for the sentence to be increased to a life sentence without the possibility of parole.