Update about the health condition of Alfredo Cospito on the 85th day of hunger strike (Italy, January 12, 2023)
On January 12th, the 85th day of the hunger strike to the bitter end against 41 bis prison regime and life imprisonment without possibility of parole, the antagonist radio station Radio Onda d’Urto broadcast a third speech by the doctor who is regularly visiting anarchist comrade Alfredo Cospito, imprisoned in the Bancali prison, in Sassari. As for the updates on the 71st (December 29th) and 78th day (January 5th) of hunger strike, we report a transcript of the speech and the recording of the broadcast (in italian language):
“He has lost even more weight, and significantly more than last week: he lost another 4.50 kg, so he weighed 80 kg today. So for his height of about 1.93 cm, he is about 10 kg below his target weight. The musculature is getting progressively smaller […]. He was a bit angry because today four members of parliament from Partito Democratico [Democratic Party, PD] went to visit him [in Italy parliamentarians can, by their own decision, visit prisons at any time] and he reiterated that his struggle is not just for him, but is for all those who are imprisoned in 41 bis. So he does not represent the ‘good one’ to be saved, but it is a struggle extended to all the people who are in 41 bis […]. [His health conditions] are still quite good, the fact that he has further lost weight… and this time he is losing weight in an important way, week by week, clearly having already consumed what were his fat deposits, now he is slowly moving towards a muscular catabolism, so, this obviously entails – and will entail (because he is still standing well) – an important reduction in physical strength […]. In my opinion, yes [we must expect a worsening of his health], even if he always mentions these Kurdish comrades who have also gone a year without eating – so he tells me – but on multivitamins, on supplements, which he does not want to take at the moment, because he tells me that they make him feel hungry, so he feels very sick with this feeling hungry, while without taking them he does not feel hungry. But without these supplements, of course, the situation gets much worse […]”.
The recording of the Radio Onda d’Urto broadcast (in italian language):
The other night we decided to hammer a BPER ATM and an Amazon pickup point.
A small gesture of solidarity with Alfredo on hunger strike since October 20 against 41bis and hostile life imprisonment. Solidarity with Thanos, Ivan, Juan, Anna, Toby and all revolutionary prisoners and anyone behind bars.
Against every jail and border. For freedom, for anarchy.
On January 5th, the 78th day of the hunger strike to the bitter end against 41 bis prison regime and life imprisonment without possibility of parole, the antagonist radio station Radio Onda d’Urto broadcast a second speech by the doctor who is regularly visiting anarchist comrade Alfredo Cospito, imprisoned in the Bancali prison, in Sassari. As for the update on the 71st day of the hunger strike (December 29th), we report a transcript of the speech and the recording of the broadcast (in italian language):
“[…] All in all, Alfredo’s condition is good. He is holding the hunger strike in an unexpected way, perhaps because he started from a high weight, at the beginning he weighed 115 kg, while today he is 2 kg under the last time I saw him, so we are talking about 83.5 kg. All in all, he is absolutely lucid, well oriented in time and space, he only reports some pressure drops, especially when he gets up, and this is there because he is maintaining a slightly low pressure; however, not particularly, today he had a maximum of 105, a minimum of 70, so all in all a good pressure. With regard to the haemato-chemical examinations – the last of which have not yet arrived – the situation from the penultimate ones was stationary like the previous ones, so there is a slight drop in the white blood cells, but as for the rest […] the vital parameters are good. As far as potassium is concerned, I can’t tell you anything, because, as I told you in the last interview, the potassium was a bit low, but it seems – from the electrocardiogram where you can indirectly see a possible drop in potassium – that there are no longer those typical alterations from hypo-potassiemia. He’s been taking honey from time to time, and this is also doing him good with regard to a sort of cheilosis he had on his tongue, with patina, etc.; basically, honey is a natural antibiotic. Today I brought him some curaseptic, which is a very disinfectant mouthwash […], the prison guards didn’t want to, then I managed to get him to rinse, and that made him feel good; then he used this ‘brush’ that I also brought him to remove the plaque from his tongue, and all in all he was very happy with how it felt, how his mouth felt. So basically the situation is stationary […]”.
The recording of the Radio Onda d’Urto broadcast (in italian language):
In memory of the hunger-striking anarchist Alfredo Cospito we set fire to trucks of Strabag in the Schanze on the night of Jan. 5.
Strabag does not only build jails. At least since the struggle for the Dannenröder forest, they have also often been the target of attacks because they actively destroy nature. Our fire should also give strength to those fighting in and around Lützerath. Day X has already been proclaimed.
“We are in solidarity with Alfredo Cospito, who has been on hunger strike since October 20, 2022 against his imprisonment in the 41-bis isolation regime and against life imprisonment without option of release. Alfredo’s detention conditions at the moment are slightly better than the previous weeks. He has lost a lot of weight and his health is relatively stable, but could become critical at any time. Two other prisoners in Italy, Anna and Juan have been on prolonged solidarity hunger strikes and Ivan Alocco, a prisoner in France is also supporting Alfredo through hunger strike. Toby Shone, who is in jail in England, is also supporting Alfredo by refusing to eat several days a week. (DN Note: Now out of Parc prison, under strict conditions, in a ‘semi-open’ detention structure.) https://actforfree.noblogs.org/post/2023/01/01/italy-update-about-the-he…
We are also in solidarity with Thanos Chatziangelou of the Anarchist Action organization, who was illegally transferred from Korydallos to Nigrita prison in Serres on Dec. 19. Thanos started a hunger and thirst strike that day. The comrade is involved in the recent mobilizations in prisons in Greece against the new harsh laws that are currently taking place in many places and in which many prisoners have participated in recent months. Continue reading “Hamburg, Germany: Responsibility claim for the arson attack on a truck of the company Strabag in solidarity with Alfredo Cospito and the fighters in Lützerath”→
We hear from France about the new hunger strike that anarchist Ivan Alocco has been on in solidarity with Alfredo since last December 22 [the comrade went on a first hunger strike, which lasted 35 days, between October 27 and December 1].
Ivan is fine, he takes sugar in his water instead of meals and also a little salt in the morning, which prevents his tension from dropping too much causing him great dizziness (however, the lowest blood pressure he has reached so far is 50 min. and 80 mas.). Glucose is okay, toxins some days are a bit high, but nothing to worry about.
To conserve strength he has stopped sports activities and going outdoors, which causes him to be quite bored–so he reads a lot.
A few days ago he had a minor disagreement with a guard who did not want the worker who distributes meals to give him sugar packets, but after Ivan questioned the captain of the guards the situation was resolved. The prison guards and inmates continue to “lecture” him (“no use, think of your health”), but Ivan is determined in his initiative despite the logical concern for Alfredo’s health and life.
We express our affection, gratitude and solidarity for Ivan!
To write to him:
Ivan Alocco N. d’ecrou 46355 Maison d’Arrêt de Villepinte 40, Avenue Vauban 93420 Villepinte France
Rome. On New Year’s Eve we had zero desire to celebrate. We took to the streets full of rage. Supported by an unusual as well as thick fog, we attacked with fire the multinational Hertz, burning 4 vans. Those shits in Greece have made deals to supply vehicles to the cops.
We dedicate this action to Thanos, Greek comrade on hunger and thirst strike.
To Alfredo, on hunger strike for more than 70 days.
To Ivan, Anna, Juan and to all the anarchist prisoners.
Forza compas. Our hearts are with you.
In these three years I was faced with choices which led me by the hand through a path fraught with crossroads and bifurcations.
Like on a minefield, I had to decide carefully where to step, with my pride and my self-respect at stake. The first choice I had to face with was whether I should continue to contribute, or let the prison overflow me, patiently waiting to get out. As limited as my situation is, I chose to continue to contribute through the written word. Once I made this decision I faced another crossroad: whether to confine myself — ecumenically — from this “high point” of my “status” (sic.) of a “revolutionary” prisoner — to bestowing blessings in each directions, applauding to every anarchist practice, paying attention not to make any enemies; or to use the weapon of critique, ever more harshly, trying to outline some analysis, to open some discourses. I chose the easier way (at least for me): openly push my critique to the extremes, at the cost of isolation (less letters, less information, less generic solidarity).
But always aware of the abyss between the thought and the action.
Words, strong as they may be, always carry something that sounds phony, even when they pose real, concrete risks, which may effectuate in years of prison for apology or incitement.
In “my” cell, the words I listen to most carefully are those that follow the actions, those which become flash and blood. They are alive, real, there’s no mistaking. They differ from the continuous blabbering in the background of an anarchist movement withdrawn in itself, affected by an embarrassing lack of courage and fantasy. A movement that feeds on appearance, on rhetoric and sometimes on demagogy, with its demonstrations, assemblies, communicative marches, campaigns of information and on rooting in a territory, a continuous blah blah. You don’t have to support claims of responsibility, but you know for sure they are honest because they are products of an action, because they’re written by really taking part in the game, putting one’s life in danger. In these times of virtual reality it is no small thing, and when then these claims talk to each other becoming campaigns of action, the background noise, the blabbering, definitely disappears, and everything gets more serious, more dangerous, more real. Continue reading “‘Ready or Not’ – Alfredo Cospito”→
Update about the health condition of Alfredo Cospito on the 71st day of hunger strike (Italy, December 29, 2022)
On December 29th, 71st day of the hunger strike to the bitter end against 41 bis and life imprisonment without possibility of parole, the antagonist radio station Radio Onda d’Urto broadcast a speech by the doctor who is regularly visiting anarchist comrade Alfredo Cospito, imprisoned in the Bancali prison in Sassari. We report a partial transcript of the speech and, at the end of the update, the recording of the broadcast (in italian language).
“[…] So, let’s consider that Alfredo is now 70 days into his hunger strike. He started from a weight of 115 kg and today he is at 84 kg. Surely he has a strong physique, he started from a fairly high weight so he has a better chance than others of being able to sustain this hunger strike. It is clear, however, that everything has an end at some point; in the sense that currently his haemato-chemical parameters are quite good, except for the fact that it is going down a bit with the electrolytes. Today he spoke to me about reducing his agony, in the sense that he wants to make it precipitate a little in order to shift the ground a little, a little more, so that he might eventually be transferred from 41 bis. I told him, however, that as far as potassium is concerned, which is part of the electrolytes, like sodium and chlorine, it is indispensable for contraction, especially for cardiac contraction – I am a cardiologist –, in fact, with the electrocardiogram that we did today there are alterations that are found in the ventricular recovery phase, and which show particular waves that result from potassium deficiency. Obviously I got a bit angry because, a few days ago, he stopped taking the supplements [extremely mild, light, which he has been taking for some time], so this is also the cause of the lowered potassium […]. He is a little convinced [to keep taking them, for a few more days] so he promised me that today and tomorrow, while waiting for the results of the tests [which are done about every four days], he will take the supplements. Then, as for the rest, psychologically he is in high spirits, smiling; a couple of days ago they moved him from his cell to another one, so he has air time with three other inmates, and this pleases him very much, because he talks to these other three inmates during air time. As a complexion then, in fact, he is a little better because he was very, very pale, but not pale because he was deficient in red blood cells; pale precisely because he was not taking light. And obviously the calcemia that he still has good is crumbling a little bit from the bones; somewhere, if you don’t take in food, the body subtracts and tries to help in some way. Let’s say that also as reasoning, as lucidity, he is fine; nothing to say about the answers he gives, they are not at all confused. He is reading, now and then he has a bit of blurred vision, he told me a bit of visual impairment, and that goes with the vitamin deficiency, of course. Every now and then, also because he wants to be conscious, he takes a little honey, which is a bit better than sugar […], when he was hypoglycaemic, they used to give him some sugar, but now he takes honey, so he doesn’t have these glycaemic drops any more. Then, for the rest, he is quite well; obviously he has lost a lot, a lot, a lot of weight, even since the first time I saw him, but nothing disastrous from the haemato-chemical analyses […]”.
In the face of the attempted annihilation of Alfredo, it is of the utmost importance that the ideas, deeds, and contribution of the comrade not be forgotten, condemned to oblivion as desired by the repressive apparatus of the state with the Scripta Manent trial, the Sibilla operation, and the transfer to the 41 bis regime.
The recent decree of the Court of Surveillance of Rome that confirms the detention in 41 bis is placed in the same perspective – the annihilation of the comrade – and is indicative of the reprisal that the state intends to give to the anarchist movement. Repression, convictions, decades of imprisonment, however, will not be enough nor can they ever lead to surrender: inevitably, our passion for freedom is stronger than any authority.
We continue the struggle with determination, we support all anarchist and revolutionary initiatives in solidarity with Alfredo Cospito who has been on hunger strike for over 70 days, with Ivan Alocco since December 22nd again on hunger strike alongside Alfredo, and with all imprisoned anarchists and revolutionaries.
The recording of the Radio Onda d’Urto broadcast (in italian language):
BE WHERE THEY DON’T EXPECT – ROME JANUARY 1 – 25 HERTZ VEHICLES SET ON FIRE
During the 1st night of the year we left flammable material and lit the triggers on ten HERTZ car rental vehicles parked along the Appia Nuova. According to media reports a total of 25 vehicles including cars and vans were devoured by flames.
Hertz collaborates with the Greek police by supplying them with vehicles at bargain prices thereby making itself complicit in the often murderous repressive violence that it exercises on a daily basis to protect the economic and political elites that dominate through the Greek state. On December 5 just past, on the very day before the anniversary of the death of the young anarchist Alexis Grigoropoulos, a policeman shot and killed a 16-year-old member of the local Roma community, Kostas Fragoulis, in Thessaloniki. The same had happened the previous year. The Greek police are responsible not only for the repression of the anarchist movement active in that country, but also for continuous violence through harassment, beatings, rape (a recent case occurred in a barracks in Athens) and murders against the poorest and most marginalized components of the population, as well as anyone who tries to organize to defend themselves against the systemic violence of capitalism, confirming themselves as the state organ predisposed to disciplining the exploited and oppressed. That is why anyone who collaborates with this institution is to be regarded as an enemy of anyone who fights for the freedom and self-determination of peoples in an internationalist logic, and treated accordingly. For these reasons we attacked Hertz in Rome and will continue to do so at every opportunity. We call through this action on Hertz, since we cannot appeal to any arguments and ethics since the only reasonable value and argument for this company is evidently profit and economic growth, to stop any cooperation with the Greek police, otherwise the losses caused by international anarchist solidarity could be greater than the profits…
With this gesture we want to send a message of closeness and solidarity to:
Thanos Chatziangelou, on hunger and thirst strike since December 19 in Nigrita Prison to demand explanations about his punitive transfer from Korydallos Prison;
to Alfredo Cospito, on hunger strike since Oct. 20 against the 41bis regime to which he has been subjected since May 2022 and the hostile life sentence;
to Ivan Alocco, again on hunger strike since Dec. 22 in solidarity with Alfredo, imprisoned in France being accused of several arson attacks against diplomatic and company cars;
to Toby Shone forced into British jails and who will be subjected to particularly restrictive measures because of his claimed anarchism;
to all anarchist and rebel prisoners in the world;
to all those anarchists of action who stubbornly continue to risk their freedom to chase the craziest of dreams. Forward comrades! Our hearts beat in unison despite miles separating us!
Our comrades on strike instill in us determination. This is not the time of despair and resignation for us, this is the time of conscious anger that arms our will to act.
BANISH HESITATION – THIS IS THE TIME TO ATTACK!
AGAINST ALL AUTHORITY – CREATE 10 100 1000 DIRECT ACTION GROUPS!
BE WHERE THEY ARE NOT EXPECTED – BECOME DANGEROUS!
ALEXIS LIVES IN OUR EVERY ACTION! ETERNAL REVENGE!
