Vetriolo – Dark Nights

Two contributions by Juan Sorroche: “The Mutual Agreement of Non-Systemic Revolutionary Anarchism or the Myth of Systemic Revolutionary Anarchism” and “A Misinterpretation of the Concept of Anarchist Individualism”

Posted on 2025/03/14 by darknights

Two contributions by Juan Sorroche: “The Mutual Agreement of Non-Systemic Revolutionary Anarchism or the Myth of Systemic Revolutionary Anarchism” and “A Misinterpretation of the Concept of Anarchist Individualism”

– THE MUTUAL AGREEMENT OF NON-SYSTEMIC REVOLUTIONARY ANARCHISM –
OR
– THE MYTH OF SYSTEMIC REVOLUTIONARY ANARCHISM –

Should ideological principles, concepts if not deepened nor confronted nor recognized in anarchism be assumed, assumed and accepted?

Once again, workers’ organization, strike, general strike, direct action, boycott, sabotage and armed insurrection itself are but means. Anarchy is the end.
Errico Malatesta, Syndicalism and insurrectionist organization, Monte Bove Editions, 2023

This is the second response in continuation of the critical-dialectic to certain evaluations and analyses regarding the article in “Vetriolo,” No. 7, “Revolutionary Anarchism versus Desistance.” I will use the text of “Vetriolo” as a compass for my reflections and to set forth conclusions. I don’t think they are anything groundbreaking, just a mixture of old and “new” ideas and concepts remixed. However to be honest it is also because of my little ability to write and follow with linearity certain discursive concepts that are very complex for me. And that the article touches, and they are different notions such as ideological principles, even historical, the organizational methods: the economic question in anarchism, as written in the first text, and different and very different tactics and strategies of struggle in anarchism. It also touches on what we call the more “visceral” subjective-objective conceptions of individual anarchist sensibilities. It also touches on anarchy-utopia if we want to deal in depth with the concept of revolutionary anarchism and thus the individual-collective notion of organizing.
These different notions as we see in reality are very complicated and complex of much of action anarchism. So please don’t blame me if I will be long-winded and use the writing of “Vetriolo” as a crutch and to thus develop my ideas with more linearity of analysis and criticism, more complex. But I want to try to write and take advantage to deepen the theories of the experiences of my individual vision of anarchism and anarchism-utopian. Without delegating to others.
And finally, for convenience, I will come out with separate and specific chapters as I go along. But as I said in the previous paper, which came out in the journal “Days and Nights [I giorni e le notti]” No. 15, it will be part of a whole, of a fuller pamphlet that I will title: “The Anarchist Organization of Change” “The Middle Way Planning” and “The Individual-Anarchist-Action.”
To begin to question the comparison of a complex range of concepts for me it is essential first, to understand each other, to have a conceptualization of mutual agreement. And, mind you, in common in sharing does not mean to flatten it into the all the same, but rather to be recognized in diversity in order to understand each other a little more deeply.

The article begins with this big question, “Revolutionary Anarchism?”

To begin to clarify. In part, only in part, I agree with the article by “Vetriolo,” who writes that “the revolutionary principle is inseparable from the anarchist idea.” So yes, anarchists and the whole anarchist movement and anarchism historically to date is in its majority revolutionary. So I could follow the same logic and say that even in the great majority it has been ideologically of anarchist-communist principles.
But, be careful, because to say that “the revolutionary principle is inseparable from the anarchist idea” to me is not really correct, either personally or historically.
Because in anarchism from the late 1800s until today there are anarchist individualities who do not believe, and have not been willing to take on, consciously denying it, the revolutionary principle.
Of course can I, can we, say that these anarchist comrades can be counted on the fingers of my hand? Yes. But they have been there and this cannot be erased by a majority criterion.
I believe that in anarchism, and in anarchism in general, one should not, by force of majorities or minorities, attach reasons or principles, and all the more so if they come from principles of revolutionary anarchism. Because I sincerely believe that so principles become absolute single idea, with their perfect method that everyone must adopt, they become myths, beliefs.
I believe that we must accept of the past and present the various diversities as such in anarchism, even those that are not in the least for revolutionary social transformations. But moved by other infinite motives and interests that of anarchist individualities have assumed for themselves:
For individual enjoyment? Revenge? Love? Despair? Revolt? Selfish egoism? For the sake of chaos? For the pleasure of destruction?, etc.
And this is beyond whether one likes it or not, or whether these different principles are conflicting. Just as there is no denying that there have been these non-revolutionary anarchist comrades, and that they have made their own contributions to anarchism of attack and not surrender. And I say all this from firsthand experience because I was one of these anarchist comrades who only believed in destruction and chaos and did not think about it, nor was I absolutely and consciously interested in social and revolutionary change. And this I do not want to ignore as if it were nonexistent, but instead as a constant development and part of me as an anarchist and of the contribution to anarchism that, however limited, I was able to make. This is a fact.
I would like to remind that concepts should be usable in both intuitive and logical relationships, and practical! And above all, first thoroughly discussed and shared, then acknowledged and accepted. And then, when they are accepted and enter into our articulation of theoretical-practical notions, then, for me, they are part of an anarchic collective whole. For me collective should be thoughtfully chosen by mutual agreement. Which very often, and systematically, is not done. It is a self-criticism. Continue reading “Two contributions by Juan Sorroche: “The Mutual Agreement of Non-Systemic Revolutionary Anarchism or the Myth of Systemic Revolutionary Anarchism” and “A Misinterpretation of the Concept of Anarchist Individualism”” →

Perugia, Italy: Further statements by anarchist comrades Matteo Monaco, Sara Ardizzone & Paolo Arosio at the Sibilla proceedings

Posted on 2025/02/03 - 2025/02/03 by darknights

Statement read by Matteo Monaco during the preliminary hearing in the Sibilla proceedings

I take the floor well pleased to be able to do so in person this time.

I would have liked to be here as early as October 10 on the occasion of the preliminary hearing that was then postponed, but unfortunately the work commitments to which I have to submit for a living and the one thousand five hundred kilometers separating my residence from this courtroom prevented me from doing so. I am not going to rage about the gross errors, certainly not mine, that led to the failures of notification against me and resulted in the postponement of the hearing. They qualify themselves. And they also qualify much more actually. I face this hearing, as well as the eventual trial that will ensue, with serenity. Aware that I have nothing to defend myself against in a political trial such as this one. Proud to be on the stand together with some of the comrades dearest to me. Happy to finally be able to greet to Alfredo and express all my closeness and solidarity with him. Determined to look those who claim the right to judge me in the face.

We are here because we have to answer, in particular, the charge of incitement to commit crimes for the purpose of terrorism and subversion of the democratic order. Good. I’m not interested in going into the merits of the charges, let alone, as already mentioned, defending myself against these crimes of opinion. What I am interested in is to make my considerations clear with respect to this charge.
In my conception of anarchism, as well as of life itself, there is no instigator-instigated binomial, there are no empty heads to be filled, there are no masses to be directed and steered, and I do not claim to instigate anything. The very term “instigation” has a negative, devious meaning, implying a kind of persuasion of the other by deception or trickery or manipulation. And that is precisely why, gentlemen, I believe that there is no better instigator of crime than the state itself. What do you think engenders feelings of revenge and revolt among the exploited and oppressed all over the world? The export of war or anarchists? Are you really convinced that if someone decides to take charge of his life and revolt, it is because the anarchists whispered it in his ear? Does it not occur to you that the systemic violence perpetrated through laws, institutions and repressive apparatuses, always directed toward the proletariat and always in defense of the bourgeoisie, may genuinely produce a backfire? What then is the question? If anarchism propagates ideas of revolt? Whether I as an anarchist point to the destruction of this miserable system? Of course I do. If I write and applaud theories and practices of subversion? That seems like an open secret to me.

The truth is that the state, capital, its apparatuses and their concrete personifications, including you, are afraid. Not afraid of anarchists let’s be clear, they are afraid that the situation will get out of hand, that the control they claim to have over the world may falter. Any sick system inevitably tends to put itself on the defensive, taking measures to try to maintain an internal balance and trying to annihilate threats, whether internal or external. The creaks of this imbalance can be felt just about everywhere, and slowly they are beginning to become more and more evident and, above all, the perpetrators increasingly clear in people’s eyes: economic disasters, environmental disasters, wars, pandemics. Crises, you know, generate discontent, discontent very easily turns into anger, anger triggers riots. And this, all of you, you certainly cannot afford. So you try to act in a preventive way, going to strike relentlessly at those who have already declared war on you for a century and a half and those who consider you enemies regardless of crisis and discontent, trying to prevent certain ideas from spreading among those who have begun to harbor a certain distrust and resentment toward you. Because they are dangerous ideas for your stability and for your comfortable places in ivory towers. Continue reading “Perugia, Italy: Further statements by anarchist comrades Matteo Monaco, Sara Ardizzone & Paolo Arosio at the Sibilla proceedings” →

Italy: Statement read by Michele Fabiani during the preliminary hearing in the Sibilla proceedings

Posted on 2025/02/02 by darknights

Statement read by Michele Fabiani during the preliminary hearing in the Sibilla proceedings

Legalitarian rhetoric sees trials as a moment in which truths are established, in which a person endowed with willpower must willingly or unwillingly assume responsibility with respect to malicious episodes. To the point that one is in effect acquitted when it is established that the accused is not of sound mind. I have never believed anything like that in my entire life: I think it is an ideological junk typical of bourgeois liberalism to crush necessity, need, material conditions, personal formation, innate impulses within the concepts of guilt and innocence. But today I want to follow, in the economy of this speech, the commonplace. Not least because today marks the likely beginning of a particular trial, a trial against books and newspapers.

What kind of truth does Operation Sibilla conceal? And what responsibility are the protagonists taking on?

For consistency I start with my own, of responsibilities. I have written articles, I have published and disseminated anarchist press, I have published anarchist books. I published, through Monte Bove Editions, the book Which International? by Alfredo Cospito and many others. And I am so proud of having done that, that just last October-in a deliberately provocative gesture toward the previous preliminary hearing-I printed its third edition.

However, there are responsibilities that will also have to be assumed by those who support the prosecution, in a trial in which the body of the crime are books and newspapers. I say this with extreme sincerity, I just do not understand how the state cannot comprehend such elementary evidence: since the world began, he who is censored, gagged, interned, tortured for his ideas gains popularity and fame from the very action of censorship. Everyone knows who Socrates and Giordano Bruno are, I don’t think anyone in here knows the names of Meleto or Cardinal Giulio Antonio Santorio.

Which side of the story do you sit on?

When it comes to accountability there is one that is greater than all and frankly crushes jurisprudential technicalities. When it comes to truth, I cannot be silent about the most shameful truth of this trial. As we discuss criminal procedure there is an elephant in the room. Right in here.

I just cannot keep quiet about the scandal that there is a co-defendant of mine, a comrade of mine, locked up in 41 bis and connected by video conference. When we talk about truth, no one can deny that this investigation played a central role in the decision to lock Alfredo Cospito up in 41 bis. The minister of justice spoke about it in parliament, chief prosecutor Cantone himself spoke about it during a hearing.

This is a scandal not only because 41 bis is an international disgrace, a torture prison regime to which no one should be subjected. Above all, it is a scandal because we anarchists say things clearly. In this book, Which International?, you will not find a cabal of cryptic messages. The writings of anarchists are not pizzas! Nor will you find orders, because anarchists have no leaders and take orders from no one. Continue reading “Italy: Statement read by Michele Fabiani during the preliminary hearing in the Sibilla proceedings” →

Italy: Statement of Alfredo Cospito during the preliminary hearing for the “Sibilla Trial”

Posted on 2025/01/29 by darknights

We publish the statements read by some of the anarchist comrades accused in the Sibilla trial in the preliminary hearing held on the 15^th of January in Perugia. Amongst the defendants, is also Alfredo Cospito, who attended by videoconference from Bancali prison in (Sardinia) where he is locked up in the 41bis regime, who read a statement. The hearing ended with a dismissal of all charges against all defendants, bringing to a conclusion an infamous case, which apart from aiming at the silencing of anarchist revolutionary publications, had a central role in Alfredo’s transfer to the 41bis regime. For a few hours Alfredo was able to hear the voices of his comrades, to see their faces, to speak, breaking the wall of silence in which they are trying to bury him. And this is certainly more stirring than any decision made by any state bureaucrat. In particular, Alfredo’s own words resonate as a powerful denunciation against the totalitarian horror of the 41bis regime. Those children’s handprints on the dividing glass in the visiting room should shake the consciences, of those who still have a conscience.

We do not know to what extent the intervention of the comrades in the courtroom somehow influenced the court’s decision not to venture into a shaky trial in itself. However, on January 15, it became clear that subsequent potential hearings would also undoubtedly provide an opportunity to intervene, breaking the wall of isolation of the 41bis, on behalf of Alfredo and the other accused comrades. Certainly, it should not take a trial like this one to initiate moments of mobilization against the international shame of 41 bis, and in Alfredo’s specific case, as of today the justifications for confinement in this special regime have one important piece missing. To make them pay the price for this contradiction, it is more urgent than ever to undertake other paths and revitalize initiatives against 41 bis and the warmongering and repressive policies of States.

Statement of Alfredo Cospito during the preliminary hearing for the “Sibilla Trial”

Today, you the representatives of the judiciary branch of this republic are putting us on trial for writing on the walls, for our words, for our books and magazines, forcing, as a matter of fact, anarchy into clandestinity. We are in good company, with this post-fascist government, censorship and repression are expanding to the entire social body, accelerating the transition from totalitarian democracy to a tragicomic opera regime. Saying this, I must thank you: after a year of silence, thanks to your embarrassing and anachronistic prosecution, I am allowed to express my thought publicly. Even if remotely, even if for the brief time of a blink of an eye, today I can tear off the gag, the medieval bridle of a 41bis that a moderate left-wing government applied to me years ago to silence an uncomfortable voice, for however minor and irrelevant, however surely an enemy of your democracy. These two years of special regime have most definitely opened my eyes to the true face of your law, of your constitutional rights, revealing to me a criminogenic system composed of an obscene, crude and murderous totalitarianism.

Today in this courtroom we are undergoing an inquisitorial trial based on an interview given through regular prison mail and not through a conversation with my sister in a prison visit as the prosecution wants us to believe, dragging her to the courthouse only for the mere fact of continuing undeterred to attend prison visits with her brother. It is a classic strategy of all authoritarian regimes, used regularly in the 41 bis regime, to burn all bridges with all emotional bonds at the exterior of the prison.

It is indicative, with every visit I attend, to see children’s handprints on the security glass that separates them from their fathers or mothers. But after all, what to expect from a democracy that puts children in prison? Continue reading “Italy: Statement of Alfredo Cospito during the preliminary hearing for the “Sibilla Trial”” →

Komotini, Greece: Reoccupation of Anarchist Steki Utopia A.D., book presentation event of ‘Which International?’ + Intervention by comrade Francesco Rota from Vetriolo newspaper

Posted on 2024/06/02 - 2024/06/06 by darknights

On Wednesday 29 May we reoccupied the Anarchist Steki Utopia A.D. where we held the planned event on the book presentation of the interview of the anarchist nihilist Alfredo Cospito in the anarchist Italian newspaper Vetriolo, a telephone intervention and an information from an Italian comrade about the 41BIS regime and the current situation in Italy, while a text was sent by a comrade of the newspaper Vetriolo which was translated into Greek and read at the event, followed by an update from a comrade on the new penal code and the event ended with a discussion, after some questions were asked to the Italian comrade.

In the area there were tables with texts, stickers, posters, pamphlets and books as well as a poster exhibition and a banner for the occupations. The event was attended by 20 people.

It should be noted that when we approached the site, there were about 10 people from the technical service in order to prevent the occupation and the event. Of course, they did not succeed. What we made clear to them is that not only the dean and the cops are our enemies but also any others who stand against us. The issue of the evacuation of the compound is clearly political and provocative since guards were placed in our area. The idiots in the technical department have no business getting involved in political issues.

There are no excuses that they are following orders and are afraid of being fired, nor do we care since none of the workers of the technical service bother to understand what they are asking us to understand. If they have labour problems with their bosses they can find ways of fighting their class, we will not spare any fearful minions of the enemy.

From now on anyone who comes across us will be treated as they chose to be…

Nothing is over Everything continues Continue reading “Komotini, Greece: Reoccupation of Anarchist Steki Utopia A.D., book presentation event of ‘Which International?’ + Intervention by comrade Francesco Rota from Vetriolo newspaper” →

Italy: Solidarity presence on the occasion of the appeal trial for Operation Diamante and presentation of the special issue of “Bezmotivny” (Genoa, Feb. 14, 2024) + Some considerations from the trial against Gianluca and Evelin

Posted on 2024/02/05 - 2024/02/05 by darknights

Solidarity presence on the occasion of the appeal trial for Operation Diamante and presentation of the special issue of “Bezmotivny” (Genoa, Feb. 14, 2024) + Some considerations from the trial against Gianluca and Evelin

Solidarity presence at the appeal trial for Operation Diamante and presentation of the special issue of “Bezmotivny”

Genoa, Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Solidarity presence: 8:30 a.m., in front of the Genoa Court, Portoria Square.

On Feb. 14, the appeal hearing of the trial involving defendant anarchist comrade Gianluca, arrested in March 2022 and still under house arrest with all restrictions, will be held.

The first-instance trial had ended on July 5, 2023 with an acquittal for the comrade indicted in the same case and a sentence for Gianluca to four years and six months in prison (plus 15,000 euros fine) for “illegal possession of explosives” (Articles 1 and 2 of Law 895/67) and “attempted crime” (Article 56 c. p.).

Solidarity with the imprisoned and indicted comrades!

Debate: 5:30 p.m., at the documentation space ” Il Grimaldello,” Via della Maddalena 81/R.

Operation Scripta Manent (2016) and the subsequent trial (2017-’22) also involved 13 convictions for the publication of the latest edition of ” Croce Nera Anarchica ” and the management of some websites. Similarly, a number of subsequent operations involved revolutionary publications: operation Sibila (2021), aimed particularly against “Vetriolo,” and the more recent Scripta Scelera (2023), aimed at “dismantling” the fortnightly “Bezmotivny.” Beginning with the publication of the special issue of “Bezmotivny,” we discuss the reasons for these proceedings: the war policies of the Italian state, the warning it intends to give to the revolutionary movement, and the need for the state to strike at the theoretical-practical combination of anarchism.

To follow: aperitif benefit prisoners.

https://spazio-di-documentazione-il-grimaldello.noblogs.org/ – grimaldello@canaglie.org

PDF: Solidarity presence at the appeal trial for Operation Diamante and presentation of the special issue of “Bezmotivny” (in Italian)
Continue reading “Italy: Solidarity presence on the occasion of the appeal trial for Operation Diamante and presentation of the special issue of “Bezmotivny” (Genoa, Feb. 14, 2024) + Some considerations from the trial against Gianluca and Evelin” →

Italy: Solidarity presence at the sentencing hearing of the Diamante trial. Solidarity with Gianluca and Evelin! (Genoa, July 5, 2023)

Posted on 2023/07/04 by darknights

On July 5th, the court of Genoa will hold the hearing for the sentence in the trial against anarchists Gianluca and Evelin, who were arrested on March 16th, 2022, within the Diamante investigation and charged with fabrication and possession of explosive and explosive material. During the hearings on June 7th and 8th, the prosecutor requested a sentence of 9 years and 6 months (plus a fine of 30,000 euros) for Gianluca and 5 years and 6 months (plus 15,000 euros) for Evelin. We recall that Gianluca — who is also under investigation in the Sibilla proceeding against the anarchist paper ‘Vetriolo’ — is still under house arrest with all the restrictions for the Diamante trial (the comrades were transferred to house arrest after a period of imprisonment in Rome’s Rebibbia prison), while Evelin was released in April 2022 following the re-examination hearing on the precautionary measures.

Along with the poster for the solidarity presence of July 5th, we also enclose some texts (in Italian) concerning the investigation and trial: “Ci troverete al nostro posto, che al vostro non ci sappiamo stare. A proposito dell’inchiesta Diamante” (‘You will find us in our place, we don’t know how to be in yours. About the Diamante investigation’, May 2022) [PDF], “Breve resoconto dell’udienza preliminare del processo di Genova contro Gianluca ed Evelin” (‘Short account of the preliminary hearing of the Genoa trial against Gianluca and Evelin’, December 2022) [PDF] and “Aggiornamenti sul processo di Genova a Gianluca ed Evelin” (‘Update on the Genoa trial against Gianluca and Evelin’, April 2023) [PDF].

SOLIDARITY PRESENCE AT THE SENTENCING HEARING OF THE DIAMANTE TRIAL

On July 5th, the first-degree verdict of the ‘Diamante’ trial involving anarchist comrades Evelin and Gianluca as defendants will be handed down at the Genoa court. We will be there for a warm greeting to them and to renew our hatred against the State and the judiciary.

Revolutionary and complicit solidarity with Gianluca and Evelin. For anarchy!

WEDNESDAY, JULY 5th, 2023, 9 A.M., IN FRONT OF THE COURT OF GENOA.

Source: https://lanemesi.noblogs.org/post/2023/07/04/solidarity-presence-at-the-sentencing-hearing-of-the-diamante-trial-solidarity-with-gianluca-and-evelin-genoa-italy-july-5-2023/]

Chile: In the face of the removal of the Noticias de la guerra social website

Posted on 2023/04/15 by darknights

In 2014, we started this counter-information project dedicated to disseminating and documenting the various attacks on the domain, some of them claimed and others anonymous, maintaining a simple format that kept alive only in and with the very pulse of the conflict.

Without worrying too much, we decided to use the most popular service at the time, “wordpress,” since the websites hosted in other “alternative” servers (noblogs, espiv, altervista, lahaine, entodaspartes, etc.) were not considered to be “alternative”. [altervista does not qualify as an “alternative” server, since it is part of the Mondadori group, ed.]) were often removed, either due to repressive attacks or simply due to the termination of their respective projects.

In October-November 2022 https://noticiasdelaguerrasocial.wordpress.com/ was removed from the web, losing that valuable archive and tool for communication and information among antagonists. Far from appealing to “freedom of expression” or complaining about the servers’ own “privacy policies,” we merely noted the fragility of Internet-based projects. Fragility that we knew a priori, but we decided to bet on informal communication and the diffusion of living and latent conflict.

Questions remain in the air: what are the characteristics of our media? How solid are they? What is their degree of autonomy? Do we have our own infrastructure of communication and counter-information? How dependent or susceptible are we? We need to draw some collective lessons from the Italian state’s repressive attack on communication tools such as Radioazione, Culmine or “Vetriolo.” Continue reading “Chile: In the face of the removal of the Noticias de la guerra social website” →

Italy: Alfredo Cospito’s statement at the review hearing for the Operation Sibilla pre-trial measures

Posted on 2023/03/23 by darknights

Alfredo Cospito’s statement at the review hearing for the Operation Sibilla pre-trial measures

First, I wanted to begin with a quote from my instigator:

“Our system has introduced that figure of mortuary isolation that is 41 bis, and that in some respects is more uncivilized even than this pharmacological mutilation. This is to say that our system does not shine with civilization.”
Carlo Nordio, March 28, 2019

This was my instigator of the struggle I started. I never thought I would get this far, I always found melodrama ridiculous, I love comedy more, but that’s how it was. After all, are we or are we not the country of melodrama? And so I have to end on a high note. When I think about it, though, something ironic is there: I am the only asshole who dies in the progressive democratic West because he is prevented from reading and studying what he wants, anarchist newspapers, anarchist books, historical and scientific journals, without neglecting his beloved comic books.

You will admit that this is paradoxical and even a bit funny, I can’t live this way, I just can’t do it, I hope those who love me will understand. I can’t do it to surrender to this non-life, it is stronger than me, maybe because I am an anarchic Abruzzese stubborn. I am certainly not a martyr, martyrs make me somewhat repulsed. Yes, I am a terrorist, I shot a man and proudly claimed that deed even though, let me tell you, the definition makes a bit of a laugh in the mouth of representatives of states that have wars and millions of dead on their conscience and sometimes, like one of our ministers, get rich from the arms trade. But what can we do, that’s the way of the world, at least until anarchy triumphs and true socialism, the antiauthoritarian and antistatalist kind, finally sees the light of day. Tough luck you will say, and so will I, for now the only glimmers of light I see are the acts of rebellion by my revolutionary brothers and sisters around the world, and they are certainly no small thing, because they are done with heart, passion and courage, no matter how scattered and scrappy they may seem. Continue reading “Italy: Alfredo Cospito’s statement at the review hearing for the Operation Sibilla pre-trial measures” →

Perugia, Italy: Update on the review hearing for re-examination of the precautionary measures in ”operation Sibilla” and statements of some of the comrades under investigation

Posted on 2023/03/16 - 2023/03/16 by darknights

Source: La Nemesi
Via & translated to English by Act for freedom now!

————–

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, 14th March 2023)

The hearing for re-examination of the precautionary measures for anarchists in operation Sibilla of 11th November 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 (414 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 Peurugia 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.
Continue reading “Perugia, Italy: Update on the review hearing for re-examination of the precautionary measures in ”operation Sibilla” and statements of some of the comrades under investigation” →