Italy’s supreme court on Friday upheld the strict prison regime for an Italian left-wing militant who has been taken on by anarchist groups in several countries who have staged attacks on Italian diplomatic missions.
The Court of Cassation rejected the appeal of the lawyers of Alfredo Cospito, who has been on a hunger strike since October. Protest against the prison regime reserved for terrorists and mob bosses, according to news agency LaPresse and state television RAI. Cospito, 55, is serving a 10-year sentence for shooting an executive in the leg of a state-controlled energy company and 20 years for a string of dynamite explosions in Italy.
Last spring, an appeals court in Turin tightened his prison conditions to include solitary confinement except for one hour a day and a strict restriction on family visits. The regime is imposed on prisoners who are considered to represent danger even from inside the prison.
Since the tribunal upheld the decision in December, there have been more than a dozen attacks on Italian diplomatic interests abroad that were claimed or linked to anarchist groups aligned with Cospito.
ITALIAN COURT TO ACCEPT MOST OF THE DEFENDANTS IN THE AVALANCHE CASE THAT DIE 29
Three nuns watch a banner in solidarity with Alfredo Cospito in front of the Italian Court of Cassation in Rome. October 24, 2023, when the case of the anarchist Alfredo Cospito, who has gone on a hunger strike since October in protest against the strict prison regime meant for terrorists and mafiosi, is being discussed. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
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On Thursday, anarchists unfurled a banner in front of the Altar of the Nation in Italy that read “Italian tortureand similar banners were unfurled in front of the Court of Cassation in the presence of large numbers of police as the judges pondered their verdict during eight hours of consultations on Friday.
There were no reports of casualties in the attacks, including car arson and vandalism for diplomatic purposes in Argentina, Bolivia, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland. The attackers on the consulate in Spain wrote on the website “Liberty Cospito”.
The Interior Ministry has defended the use of a strict prison regime for Cospito, saying that the attacks only increase the need for such measures.
At the end of January, Cospito was transferred from a prison in Sardinia to a facility in Milan, which has a specialized medical care unit, given his deteriorating health as a result of a hunger strike.