“As long as Alfredo breathes we must fight for him. But if Alfredo dies these cowards and murderers must repent of what they are doing: we must make them pay”. The intervention of Pasquale Valitutti, historic anarchist exponent, 76 years old, today opened the demonstration in Turin in solidarity with Alfredo Cospito. Several hundred people are present at the gathering in Piazza Solferino, many of whom have come from other Italian locations. ” We anarchists – Valitutti said again – have been hammering against the 41 bis for twenty years and 40 years against special prisons. We have to fight so that Alfredo does not die. We can accept a military defeat, because freeing him is impossible. But we cannot accept a political defeat”. If Alfredo Cospito dies, those responsible “will historically be executed by anarchists”. This was said by Pasquale Valitutti, 76 years old, historic Italian anarchist exponent, answering questions from journalists after his speech at the rally underway in Turin in Piazza Solferino. “This – he specified – is my personal opinion”.
The procession of anarchists in Turin, after the rally, moved from Piazza Solferino and walked along Via Pietro Micca, stopping under the headquarters of the Banca del Piemonte where some demonstrators lit dark smoke bombs and daubed the walls with the words ‘No to 41 bis’. The procession, with a few hundred people, is opened by the banner ‘Alongside Alfredo, alongside those who fight’. Big firecrackers and paper bombs were thrown by the anarchists’ procession underway this evening in Turin. It happened near Piazza Arbarello. During the launch, vandalism was carried out against a building where windows were broken. Written against Minister Nordio. The procession of anarchists with hundreds of demonstrators is continuing in Turin, in via della Consolata. Vandalism against numerous buildings and shops, closed on the orders of the police. Destroyed the rear window of a car with a torn cast iron manhole cover, defaced the obelisk monument to the Siccardi laws which led to the suppression of the special ecclesiastical courts. Protesters tore down a road sign and use it as a battering ram. They attempted to start a fire with wooden pallets. The launch of large firecrackers continues.
The number of demonstrators arrested for the incidents today in Turin during the anarchists’ procession has risen to 34. This is what was learned this evening at the police station.
“I express my firmest condemnation for the acts of violence that took place in Turin. To the police officers who were injured, to the citizens and to those who have been damaged by the vandalism of the demonstrators, I express my deepest solidarity and closeness”. The President of the Chamber of Deputies, Lorenzo Fontana writes in a note.
THE SITUATION OF COSPITO – Alfredo Cospito’s situation “is deteriorating rapidly, even if the fact that he has resumed taking at least a little sugar makes it a little less dramatic”. This is what the anarchist’s personal doctor, who visited him in prison, communicated to the defender, the lawyer Flavio Rossi Albertini. The doctor reported having seen the 55-year-old “very tired and weary” for the first time: he arrived at the visit walking on his legs but immediately sat down on the couch” In addition to liquids, water and especially tea, Cospito is taking two spoons of sugar and a teaspoon of salt, while he no longer takes supplements and vitamins. He has lost another kilo, he weighs 70, a threshold “at the limit” for a man of his height.. The doctor also told the lawyer Rossi Albertini that Cospito has a “very marked muscular atrophy” and that since he resumed sugar consumption he has had “problems, with abdominal pains”. The blood pressure and oxygen saturation values ”still hold up well”. The electrolytes “confirm a low value of sodium but still stable”, however the latest tests available date back to March 1st. Given the overall picture, the doctor asked the lawyer to bring forward the next visit “to the middle of next week”.