Operation Scripta Manent

Italy: An update and some considerations on Operation Sibilla and the 41 bis against anarchist Alfredo Cospito

Posted on 2022/06/25 by darknights

A hearing on the precautionary measures ordered for the repressive Sibilla operation was held at the Court of Cassation in Rome on June 22. The hearing stemmed from an appeal by prosecutor Manuela Comodi against the order of the Perugia review court, which on Dec. 16 had resulted in the annulment of the precautionary measures taken on Nov. 11 in the repressive operation. The Court of Cassation, in spite of the opinion of the Attorney General’s Office (which had called for the rejection of the Perugia prosecutor’s appeal), granted PM Comodi’s request, annulling the order of the review court and ordering a new hearing. The precautionary measures are not effective, and a new review hearing will be ordered for the coming months at the Perugia court.

We would like to take the opportunity of this update to dwell on the reasons that led to the crackdown, adding some of our own considerations derived especially from the recent order to transfer Comrade Alfredo Cospito to a 41 bis detention regime.

In September 2021, following years of investigations conducted by the commands of the Special Operational Grouping of the Carabinieri in Milan and Perugia, eight prison arrests for as many anarchist comrades were requested by the Perugia prosecutor’s office. This order was partly rejected and downgraded by the judge for preliminary investigations. At the same time as this request for arrest, a three-month censure order on correspondence was ordered for comrade Alfredo Cospito, which was subsequently renewed several times.

Thus, on Nov. 11, dozens of searches were carried out by the ROS of the Carabinieri, the Sibilla investigation concerning some 15 comrades was notified, and six precautionary measures were imposed in connection with the charge of incitement to commit a crime with the aggravating factor of the purpose of terrorism: an arrest warrant in prison for Alfredo Cospito (at the time already imprisoned in the Terni jail); the arrest of comrade Michele Fabiani, who was placed under house arrest with all restrictions; and finally, the obligation to stay in the municipality of residence jointly with the obligation to sign three days a week for four comrades. On the very day of the operation, two websites (roundrobin.info and malacoda.noblogs.org) were also blacked out, making their online addresses untraceable, and at present they are still unreachable on Italian territory through conventional browsers (due to technical limitations, the repressive forces were able to order the blackout only in Italy, since it was not possible to completely eliminate the websites in question). As mentioned earlier, after a little over a month, the precautionary measures were all cancelled by the review court. Continue reading “Italy: An update and some considerations on Operation Sibilla and the 41 bis against anarchist Alfredo Cospito” →

Spoleto, Italy: Nothing new on the western front – Two days against war and repression 26-27.06.2022

Posted on 2022/06/13 by darknights

Nothing new on the western front
Two days against war and repression

Sunday, June 26, 2022

5 p.m.: The ongoing war and the reasons for our internationalism. Against the wars of masters and rulers. Against all states, starting with our own. For the defeat of NATO. Discussion with some comrade editors of the anarchist internationalist fortnightly “Bezmotivny.”
8 p.m.: Buffet dinner.

Monday, June 27, 2022

5 p.m.: Discussion: Anti-anarchist repression in recent years: from the Scripta Manent trial to 41 bis against Alfredo Cospito. After months of censorship on correspondence and following the repressive Sibilla operation in November, comrade Alfredo Cospito was transferred to a 41 bis regime on May 5, while the cassation ruling of the Scripta Manent trial, in which some 20 anarchists are defendants and for which, in addition to Alfredo, another comrade, Anna Beniamino, is currently imprisoned, is scheduled for June 27.
In continuity with the struggle against the state and capital, we solidarize with the imprisoned anarchists, support revolutionary practices, and persevere in anarchist propaganda.
8 p.m.: Buffet dinner.

Circolaccio Anarchico
viale della repubblica 1/A – Spoleto
e-mail: circolaccioanarchico[at]inventati[dot]org
telegram: t.me/circolaccioanarchicospoleto

[Attached is the manifesto for the initiative].

UK: “Like Mercury” Open Letter for Dan Baker, aka Alishare – from Toby Shone

Posted on 2022/06/01 by darknights

Open Letter for Dan Baker, aka Alishare – from Toby Shone

Alishare, I heard your message of solidarity, thank you, it gave me strength. I would turn the energy with this open letter, and I hope to kick a brick from the walls. One more time. In a flurry of black feathers and lunar wisdom, a murder of crows delivered your statement and those wily crows told me about your situation in FCI Memphis.

I want to add on to this dialogue and talk about three anarchist comrades imprisoned in Italy. The first is Anna Beniamino who is serving a 17 year sentence for the Scripta Manent case in a high security regime in Rebibbia prison (Rome). The Scripta Manent case involved the arrest of 7 anarchists accused of subversive association with terrorist intent and a series of direct actions claimed by the Informal Anarchist Organization. An absurd farce with obscene conclusions. The second comrade I want to mention is Alfredo Cospito who has been locked up since 2012 for the Adinolfi case for which he was sentenced for nearly 11 years and is now waiting for the confirmation of another sentence of 20 years for the Scripta Manent case. Alfredo was recently struck with the legislature 41 bis, special security regime. Each month, he can only receive either one phone call (10 minutes) or one visit strictly with family members with glass and recorded; he can only walk in the yard with maximum 3 other prisoners previously approved by prison security; he cannot receive books, censorship is applied to his correspondence (number of letters per month is extremely limited), and he has a very limited amount of items which he can keep in his cell. Several international agencies have continuously condemned the 41bis prison regime as torture. The third comrade I want to mention is Juan Sorroche. On the date of the international day of with long-term anarchist prisoners, June the 11th , Juan will face a court hearing in Treviso. Juan is on trial accused of an attack against an office of the Lega Nord political party claimed by the “Cell Haris Hatzimihelakis/Black International (1881/2018)” that happened in August 2018. Juan who was already serving time for other judgements, is now facing a long sentence in this other political trial. Like all the imprisoned anarchists around the world, these three comrades deserve the support and solidarity that the international anarchist movement can give them. Continue reading “UK: “Like Mercury” Open Letter for Dan Baker, aka Alishare – from Toby Shone” →

Italy: Update on cassation hearing for Scripta Manent trial and transfer of anarchist Alfredo Cospito from Terni prison to Sassari prison

Posted on 2022/05/27 by darknights

Update on the cassation hearing for the Scripta Manent trial and transfer of anarchist Alfredo Cospito from Terni prison to that of Sassari (Italy, May 25, 2022)

The cassation hearing of the Scripta Manent trial was held today, May 25, in Rome. The attorney general argued for the rejection of all the requests (of the prosecution and the defence) with the exception of the crime of massacre, for which he requested a referral to the court of appeal for the requalification from ‘common massacre’ to ‘political massacre’. The hearing was adjourned to June 27 for the last defence arguments and the final verdict.

Meanwhile, also today, Alfredo Cospito was transferred to Bancali prison, located near Sassari (in Sardinia). As is known, the 41 bis prison regime (the most restrictive penitentiary regime in Italian prisons) was ordered for the comrade, with a measure effective from May 5.

The comrade’s new address is as follows:

Alfredo Cospito
C. C. di Sassari “Giovanni Bacchiddu”
Strada provinciale 56 n. 4
Località Bancali
07100 Sassari (Italy)

Below is the address of the other comrade currently imprisoned for Scripta Manent, Anna Beniamino, imprisoned in the Rebibbia prison in Rome:

Anna Beniamino
C. C. di Roma Rebibbia femminile
via Bartolo Longo 92
00156 Roma (Italy)

Solidarity Poster: Solidarity with Alfredo Cospito, anarchist imprisoned in 41 bis. (Italy)

Posted on 2022/05/21 - 2022/05/21 by darknights

On May 5, imprisoned anarchist Alfredo Cospito was notified of his transfer from “High Security 2” to 41 bis. The decree was ordered by Justice Minister Marta Cartabia. The 41 bis is an afflictive penitentiary regime that provides for: isolation and silence, the absence of sociability and any internal activity, censorship of correspondence and the blocking of a good part of it, one hour of monthly interview with the dividing glass, recording of the interview itself, ten minutes of phone calls per month with an authorized and forced family member from a barracks, the prohibition to receive and buy newspapers and books, and the limitation in the availability of objects inside the cell.

This transfer is an attack on a comrade anarchist who never lowered his head: who, after his arrest and in the trial that followed, claimed head-on to have shot in the legs the CEO of Ansaldo Nucleare, Engineer Adinolfi, one of the top nuclear executives in Europe. In recent years, Alfredo has been a thorn in the side for investigators because of his constant contribution to the revolutionary movement, a contribution they would now like to silence. Continue reading “Solidarity Poster: Solidarity with Alfredo Cospito, anarchist imprisoned in 41 bis. (Italy)” →

Rome, Italy: For an international revolutionary solidarity

Posted on 2022/05/21 - 2022/05/21 by darknights

“…I think that the new can only come from their collision (of anarchist terrorism and creative anarchy), because life is contrast: rational and irrational, hate and love, everything but the mortal, static “balance”. Harmony is the daughter of “imbalance”, of chaos. “*

Well, what has been hovering for a while has finally manifested itself: on May 5, the anarchist comrade Alfredo Cospito, already detained in the AS2 section [High Security 2; Att.Nt) of the Terni prison, received the notification of the application of the 41 bis against him.
This detention regime, requested by the judges and approved by the Ministry of Justice, with the signature of the Minister Marta Cartabia, as we know, involves: the annihilation of the individual, an extension of the isolation, the deprivation of books, the lack of information and news from the outside world… in short, torture. Continue reading “Rome, Italy: For an international revolutionary solidarity” →

Italy: Against 41 bis, revolutionary solidarity with anarchist Alfredo Cospito

Posted on 2022/05/09 - 2022/05/09 by darknights

Thursday, May 5, the imprisoned anarchist Alfredo Cospito received notification of the provision against him of the penitentiary regime of 41 bis. At the moment Alfredo is still detained in the prison of Terni, in the dedicated section. We do not know if this is a provisional destination and if it will be followed by a transfer to another institute. The decree has been ordered, as foreseen by the law, directly by the Minister of Justice Marta Cartabia, former president of the Constitutional Court. Let us recall, very briefly, that 41 bis is a particularly afflictive penitentiary regime, which provides, in order to prevent any form of communication, isolation, absence of sociability and any internal activity, silence, censorship of correspondence, one hour of monthly meetings with the glass partition and the “intercom”, then the recording of the meeting itself, 10 minutes of phone calls per month with an authorized family member forced to call from inside a Carabinieri barracks. Inmates are forbidden to receive newspapers and books, most correspondence is blocked in advance because of its contents, moreover, it is not possible to buy newspapers and there is a strong limitation in the availability of objects inside the cell (books, clothes, food, paper and pen are limited).

It is not the first time that such a measure is applied to revolutionaries, in 2006 four prisoners of Brigate Rosse were interned in such facilities (one of them, Diana Blefari, committed suicide in October 2009, shortly after being declassified from 41 bis). This is a precedent that, despite the mobilizations, has not yet been disarticulated.

In these first hours of anger, we must dwell on two issues.

On the one hand, we note the personal, physical attack on an anarchist comrade who in these ten years has never lowered his head: a comrade who claimed to have shot in the legs the CEO of Ansaldo Nucleare, Mr Adinolfi. The fact that Alfredo could not be isolated and his revolutionary contribution silenced was a thorn in the side for investigators. This has led in recent years to further restrictive measures against him, such as the censorship of correspondence and the serving of an arrest warrant in prison for Operation Sibilla on November 11, through which the repressive forces have attempted to remove from circulation a newspaper and publications that over the years have reported the articles and contributions of the comrade. We must make Alfredo feel the solidarity of a movement that is not tamed, that has not forgotten him, that does not leave him alone; we must make sure that this solidarity breaks the bans and breaks the isolation. Continue reading “Italy: Against 41 bis, revolutionary solidarity with anarchist Alfredo Cospito” →

Italy: Censorship of correspondence for anarchist Alfredo Cospito extended again (March 2022)

Posted on 2022/03/26 by darknights

We inform that in the middle of March the censorship of correspondence (incoming and outgoing) for anarchist comrade Alfredo Cospito, currently imprisoned in section AS2 (“High Security 2”) of Terni prison, was renewed once again. The censorship will last three months, until June. The measure had also been ordered between September and December 2021 and between December 2021 and March of this year.

We remind that the comrade, arrested in September 2012, already sentenced to 9 years and 5 months for the wounding of Adinolfi (CEO of Ansaldo Nucleare), was sentenced to a further 20 years in the “Scripta Manent” trial held in Turin, whose court of cassation hearing will be held on May 25 in Rome. In addition, the comrade has recently received an arrest order for the “Sibilla” operation of November 11, as he is accused of incitement to commit crimes with the aggravating circumstance of the purpose of terrorism, in relation with the publication of the anarchist paper “Vetriolo”. The arrest order was subsequently annulled by the Perugia re-examination court on December 16, while the investigation remains open.

Let’s break the isolation: revolutionary solidarity with the imprisoned anarchists.

The address of the comrade:

Alfredo Cospito
Casa Circondariale di Terni
strada delle Campore 32
05100 Terni (Italy)

Italy: Measure and process updates for Operation Bialystok

Posted on 2022/02/03 by darknights

January 2022

As we approach the end of the trial of Operation Bialystok, it seems to us to be the right moment to spread some considerations on its progress. Although we are not interested in following the pace dictated by repression, nor in taking a victimistic or alarmist stance in the face of the activities of police institutions, we believe it is important to share information and impressions about what is happening at the court level. By conscious choice, we will summarize aspects and moments that we consider noteworthy, at the expense of a detailed and chronological description of the trial in which we are involved.

As far as the framework of the investigation is concerned, we refer to the texts “Sull’operazione Bialystok” (On the Bialystok operation) already published and circulated on the web and “Testo e contesto” (Text and context).

At the time of writing all defendants in this proceeding are at large. On January 27th a positive response was received to a request for the end of the precautionary measures to which 4 defendants were still subject (3 obligations to stay and one obligation to present themselves for weekly signatures), so that at the moment only one person remains under obligations to stay. The differences in conditions are mainly due to the different timing in the presentation of the appeals which brought the same before different courts, and to the specificity of the individual positions regarding the crimes charged.

Broadly speaking, up to now the process has been marked by hours and hours of endless hearings for the delineation of the anarchist context both nationally and internationally, hearings where we defendants have almost never been nominated. Only after many hearings did we begin to talk about the so-called specific facts. There was a certain interest and prominence in the moments in which the international relations of the defendants were exposed; this was not because the prosecution brought who knows what elements, on the contrary, we witnessed a real climbing on mirrors, but more because of the play of roles within the institution of justice. It is evident that an assize court, used to dealing with crimes of a certain gravity, sees in the international dimension of the investigation the possibility of its own raison d’être. And this, we say, on the level of the actual courtroom show; behind the scenes, that is, on the level of the investigation, and therefore of the repressive strategy, we also see something else, that is, a direction that looks like it wants to be taken in the future. These, like others in the past, are attempts, sometimes successful and sometimes less so, to structure on a concrete level the collaboration of police and prosecutors’ offices on an international level regarding investigations. Continue reading “Italy: Measure and process updates for Operation Bialystok” →

Italy: The censorship of correspondence for anarchist comrade Alfredo Cospito was renewed EN/IT

Posted on 2022/01/11 by darknights

We inform that in January the censorship of correspondence (incoming and outgoing) to anarchist comrade Alfredo Cospito, currently imprisoned for a 20-year sentence in the ‘Scripta Manent’ trial, was renewed. We remind that censorship was also previously ordered between September and December 2021. Alfredo was recently subject of an arrest order in the context of the ‘Sibilla’ operation of November 11, as he is accused of incitement to commit crimes with the aggravating circumstance of the purpose of terrorism, in relation to the publication of the anarchist paper ‘Vetriolo’. The arrest order was subsequently annulled by the court of re-examination of Perugia on December 16, while the case against all the investigated comrades remains open.

Revolutionary solidarity with the imprisoned anarchists.

The address of the comrade:

Alfredo Cospito
Casa Circondariale di Terni
strada delle Campore 32
05100 Terni (Italy)

È stata rinnovata la censura sulla corrispondenza al compagno anarchico Alfredo Cospito

Informiamo che nel mese di gennaio è stata rinnovata la censura sulla corrispondenza al compagno anarchico Alfredo Cospito, attualmente imprigionato per la condanna a 20 anni nel processo “Scripta Manent”. Ricordiamo che la censura era stata precedentemente disposta anche tra settembre e dicembre 2021. Alfredo è stato recentemente destinatario di un mandato d’arresto nel contesto dell’operazione “Sibilla” dell’11 novembre, in quanto accusato di istigazione a delinquere con l’aggravante della finalità di terrorismo, in relazione alla pubblicazione del giornale anarchico “Vetriolo”. L’ordinanza d’arresto è stata successivamente annullata dal tribunale del riesame di Perugia il 16 dicembre, mentre resta aperta l’inchiesta contro tutti i compagni indagati.

Solidarietà rivoluzionaria con gli anarchici imprigionati.

L’indirizzo del compagno:

Alfredo Cospito
Casa Circondariale di Terni
strada delle Campore 32
05100 Terni