TRIAL UPDATE

The sixth hearing of the trial against the Lecce anarchists took place on May 19.

First of all the judge claimed that a number of comrades who had worn T-shirts that all together composed the words ‘EVERYBODY FREE’ at the end of the previous hearing, were banned from attending future hearings in court.

Then the first witness, chief of the Digos (political police) in Lecce, was questioned by the public prosecutor. The latter, who wanted to demonstrate at all costs that the defendants were dangerous to society, tried to make the Digos chief say things that he was unable to articulate, with the result that the officer gave a very poor performance, like a student who hadn’t studied the lesson.

The Digos chief went on to claim that anarchy was initially a pacific doctrine, which became subversive and dangerous following the introduction of the concept of ‘affinity groups’. The defendants at the trial, maintained the Digos chief, are representatives of the subversive aspect of anarchy, as proved by 24 booklets written by Alfredo Bonanno that had been found in the houses of the arrested anarchists. Alfredo Bonanno, an anarchist comrade who was once accused of being the ‘leader’ of a non-existent organization, is, the chief of the Digos stressed to underline, a pluri-graduated philosopher ....also graduated in philosophy...

When asked by the judge if those 24 booklets were copies of the same text or 24 different texts, the chief of the Digos was unable to answer.

For his part, the public prosecutor revised the illustrative case of the Marini trial, claiming that the latter had unveiled and dismantled a dangerous subversive organ-isation. It must be pointed out, as the defense will certainly do at the next hearing, that the Marini trial, in spite of Marini’s intentions, did not prove the existence of any organization because the aforesaid organization was a pure invention of the prosecution.

Finally, the jury accepted the appeal of the defense concerning Annalisa, who had once again been put under house arrest. Annalisa was therefore released on bail again, but uniquely for reasons concerning her health and extraneous to the trial. On the contrary, the jury refused the request for Cristian to get permission to work and for Marina to get permission to attend university classes (Marina and Cristian are under house arrest).

As for Salvatore and Saverio, they are supposed to have been moved to the prisons in Sulmona and Voghera respectively after the trial.

The next hearing will be held on June 16.