Italy: Updates on the censorship of the mail inflicted on comrades Alfredo Cospito and Nicola Gai

It must be pointed out that censorship implies… besides the unpleasant blue ink stamp smudging letters of friends and comrades… a systematic and arbitrary seize of letters, be they personal letters, leaflets, print-outs, papers, etc, so the problem is not so much the constant monitoring of what is being written or said during visits – a monitoring that is always there even if it’s not declared – as the non-communication they would like to impose between the outside and the inside.

As usual this latest extension is an example of State revenge which fears the solidarity given to the comrades. Here follows an excerpt of the text of the judge’s order, an outstanding example of repressive strategies, much more effective than any notes on the sidelines:

‘requirements relating to the investigation remain even if a sentence was pronounced in the meantime during abbreviate trial procedures; [these requirements] aim at the identification of possible partners in crime for the offences being investigated and are necessary to prevent offences of the same kind from being committed. In this respect it must be pointed out that during the trial the defendants claimed the attack and declared they belonged to the FAI/FRI ‘Olga Nucleus’, under whose name the kneecapping of Ansaldo Nucleare managing director was committed; the fact that the two anarchists took responsibility for the attack achieved consensus among the most radical wing of the movement supporting direct action, and in any case it provoked debate and discussions. Because of their choice the two prisoners are trying to make a name for themselves both within the national anarchist movement (as demonstrated by the letters with [...]) and among the Greek nationals of the Conspiracy of the Cell of Fire, of which Olga Ikonomidu (the prisoner to whom the attack was dedicated) is a member; in particular it was detected a letter sent by Cospito to [...], which was actually addressed to the members of the anarchist cell of the prisoners in Greece and to other supporters (as can be seen from the beginning ‘dearest brothers and sisters of the CCF), and which proposes a conflict aimed at the strengthening of a new anarchism of action called ‘New Anarchy’, which involves forms of violent struggle like that claimed by the two defendants.
The measure of control requested by the public prosecutor is therefore well founded and justified owing to the unquestionable interest the investigators have in the correspondence of the defendants, whose attitude – in the light of what has already been found – can promote an undefined criminal project shared by the defendants through letters and exchange of information.’

In this regards 3 clear and openly declared examples of correspondence are mentioned: the one with an anarchist comrade imprisoned for years, a comrade known and admired beyond all borders because of his huge and constant work of translation as well as for his untamed tension of rebellion; the other one with a relative of a Greek anarchist prisoner, probably the holder of a post box used by the prisoner to communicate with the outside (according to the Greek prison system it is possible to communicate via e-mail and telephone not only with one’s family but also with anybody else. So their stance relating to the communication between outside and inside is totally different from that of Italian prisons); finally mention is made of a text that was published in a website of the movement months ago, and of the person writing these notes, who besides visiting them is also investigated for 270bis along with Alfredo ad Nicola… needless to say that being us anarchists… sometimes we write about anarchy to each other!

As we said many other times, the updating on repressive dynamics provided by anyone hit by them in various forms can highlight the attempts at breaking solidarity networks and help strengthen one’s certitudes on the activity of the holders of the instruments of control.
Of course I also invite all to continue to send materials, papers, etc to the comrades.

Anna

nidieunimaitres@gmail.com

Address of the comrades:

Nicola Gai
Alfredo Cospito
C.C.Ferrara Via Arginone 327
44122 Ferrara
Italy