[Italy] Dangerous conversations - reflections on the operation against anarchists on June 16th

Dangerous conversations

Brief reflections on the operation against anarchists on June 16th

October 2026

Part I _Anatomy of an Investigation_

The investigation that led to the June 16 arrests stems from an investigation that had been ongoing since at least September 2024 into the escape of anarchist comrade Salvatore Vespertino (called Ghespe). Ghespe had disappeared without a trace since January 2023 and was officially deemed untraceable six months later, after his final sentence to eight years in prison. Apparently a broad investigation was launched against people and circles around him in order to track him down.

The documents available so far from the Roman investigation show that this line of investigation, in which there was initially suspicion of aiding and abetting the escape and later also of aiding and abetting the obstruction of punishment (made more difficult by Sections 270bis and 270-sexies of the Criminal Code1) initially concentrated on the suspected sources of income and the suspected hiding place of the person being sought, and in doing so made several references to “secret service sources”.
In order to find his hiding place, they investigate a fellow activist, track her movements using cell phone location data and classify her stays in the Sambuci/Vicovaro area as “conspicuous” - an area in which there is a country house that was inhabited by anarchists until ten years ago under the name “Improbabile Squat”. After an on-site inspection and interviewing the owner, the Digos arrives2concluded that the property, although abandoned, shows signs of recent use and is potentially habitable. So she has hidden cameras installed that are aimed at the entrance to the farmhouse and a possible parking lot nearby.

Based on the video surveillance, the investigators determine that the country house is visited sporadically - although not by the person they are looking for - but this is enough to repeatedly obtain extensions and, after noticing the presence of an anarchist, even the installation of room microphones inside. On February 15, 2025, Ghespe's escape unfortunately ends with his arrest in Spain, but the investigators do not give up and repeatedly achieve extensions of the surveillance measures for the country house, with the aim of uncovering the support network that the fugitive comrade had relied on for two years. This is how, in May 2025, they see and hear a colleague in the house talking about “carrying out maintenance work to organize an event”, after which video surveillance is set up on site.

In July 2025, a longer exchange between comrades from different cities will therefore be recorded over two days at the country house: 15 hours of taped and transcribed conversations in which general topics such as the state of today's anarchist movement, communication with society, the meaning of the demands of the actions, the mobilizations for Palestine and dealing with younger comrades are addressed, affinity and reproducibility, the effectiveness of anarchist action and the question of whether with regard to the extension of the 41bis measure3whether or not a mobilization should be started again against Alfredo Cospito. The public prosecutor's office believes that it has everything under control, but forgets about Ghespe's escape and initiates an investigation according to Section 270bis against the nine comrades in arms who were identified as participants in the meeting, at the same time monitoring and wiretapping measures being initiated against them.

According to what has emerged from the documents so far, the technical surveillance methods used by Digos do not show any particular innovations; They consist of “standard” interception measures of calls and SMS, the collection of telephone connection records and telematics data (i.e. network data) of the past months as well as the geolocation of cell phones (positioning), GPS in cars and cameras that record the entrance to the houses of some suspects (???) and the occupied Bencivenga building. However, we know of only one case in which so-called "active telematic surveillance" was activated on a suspect's phone, which made it possible to take screenshots of the screen while he was visiting websites or using chats such as Signal, as well as to activate the device as a room microphone at will; however, we do not yet know how the device was infected.

However, this surveillance system does not reveal much, apart from fanciful reconstructions of an alleged "tour" of a McDonald's by some suspect and failed attempts to trace alleged subsequent meetings, until a wave of sabotage disrupts Italian rail transport on the occasion of the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games in the first half of February 2026. These incidents are interpreted as an operational implementation of the “affinity group” intercepted in the country house. The Roman public prosecutor's office opens an investigation into attacks on public institutions and disruption of public services, made more difficult by paragraphs 270bis and sexies, and limits the search for those responsible to two of the participants in the meeting (as suspected perpetrators) and to the occupied Bencivenga.

At the beginning of March, the file on the acts of sabotage was merged with the original investigation from 2024, excluding the aid hypothesis in order to establish a violation of Section 270bis for nine participants in the meeting in the farmhouse. However, the analysis of numerous surveillance cameras from shops and offices in the area between the “Bencivenga” and one of the sabotaged sites does not provide any results; The same applies to the recordings at the entrance to the occupied house, which show nothing conclusive apart from the usual comings and goings of the comrades-in-arms. The circle of suspects in this case thus expands to include those who were filmed entering or leaving the Bencivenga in the days before and after the night of February 13th to 14th, bringing a total of nine people under suspicion for the sabotage in the Settebagni area [Rome-Florence high-speed line], to which two more are suspected for the sabotage in the Corcolle area [Rome-Naples high-speed line]. Following the forensic investigations along the tracks, numerous finds of different types and of dubious (even for the investigators) origin were secured, which should be kept for further investigations.

The theory is as follows: The so-called “Vicovaro meeting” was said to have served to create a subversive association (called an “affinity group”) with a concrete program of action, communication and recruitment of new members; a group whose logistical and organizational base is said to have been the Bencivenga and whose practical expression is said to have been the acts of sabotage at the Olympic Games. The squat is declared an operational center both due to its historical anarchist connotations and the fact that some of the suspects lived there and/or stayed overnight there on the night of the incident, as well as its geographical proximity to one of the affected train stations. In addition, alternative routes and escape routes are suggested to compensate for the dramatic lack of concrete evidence, and this is supported by connections between the contents of the confession letter and the statements recorded during the meeting, in particular the general reference to mobilization against the genocide in Palestine and the equally general reference to acts of sabotage and direct action as a means of struggle.

The month of March will be marked by a tragic event: fellow campaigners Sara and Sandro die when an explosive device accidentally explodes in an abandoned farmhouse in a Roman park. Eavesdropping continues to capture anarchists' reactions to this event, with a listening device also being deployed at the NED, the site of a meeting held the following day. The solidarity turns out to be unified, the anarchist movement publicly declares its support for the comrades-in-arms who died in battle, and a week later a joint memorial service in the capital is banned, with dozens of comrades-in-arms from all over the country being affected by the newly introduced measure of preventive arrest.

Part II
At dawn on June 16, the Digos anti-terrorist unit appears at the doors of about twenty people who are under investigation for various reasons and in various cities. The arrest warrant concerns only the nine people at the “Meeting of Vicovaro”, all of whom are suspected of Section 270bis; two of them are also accused of sabotage of Settebagni and of incitement to commit a crime (Section 270sexies) in connection with the publication of the corresponding letter of confession. Five of them are in custody, two are under house arrest with electronic ankle bracelets, while the remaining two are at large under investigation. The searches taking place across the country also affect the apartments of a further eleven suspects as well as other houses and premises that - according to investigators - are considered places where the people affected by the precautionary measures could potentially stay.

After hours of active resistance, the anti-terrorist unit finally managed to break into the occupied house “Bencivenga” to search it and arrest two comrades-in-arms who were there. The search lasted over 6 hours, during which virtually every room was inspected and various material was confiscated, both in paper form such as books and manuscripts (diaries, notebooks, etc.) as well as everyday objects such as gloves, lighter gas, telephones, computers, cables, work tools as well as chemical substances such as swimming pool chlorine and barbecue lighters.

The scheme is well known: linking everyday materials to the alleged production of high-explosive or incendiary bombs - a hypothesis that fits well with the prosecution's narrative, particularly in the context of a supposed anarchist cell ready to carry out attacks using explosives. Two photocopied manuals from "To each his own. A thousand ways to sabotage this world" are also confiscated from Bencivenga. A manual on which the prosecution will base its imaginative portrayal of the affinity group, describing it as the group's inspiration and training text. At the same time, several dozen supporters gathered in front of the occupied house to express solidarity with those searched and arrested, which, according to the police, motivated and accelerated the evacuation of the house. It is impossible to say whether this is true or not, as the eviction was apparently not originally planned.

Returning to the searches of the private homes of other comrades-in-arms, during which materials similar to those listed above were confiscated; Pamphlets were found in the homes of two comrades that led to their red-handed arrest and subsequent imprisonment under Section 270quinquiester, which is technically translated as “possession of material for terrorist purposes” and is commonly known as “terrorism of the word.”

The fellow activists are initially imprisoned in the Regina Coeli (Rome), Vallette (Turin) and Forlì prisons, and then transferred to various departments of the AS24to be transferred, while the female comrade-in-arms is transferred directly to the AS2 department of the Rebibbia prison in Rome.

About three weeks after the arrests, three different detention review hearings are ordered: one for those suspected of belonging to a subversive organization, one for the comrade arrested in Rome under Section 270quinquiester, which will be heard on different days before the review court in Rome, and another for the comrade arrested in Forlì, whose case will be taken over by the review court in Bologna. The results of the detention tests in Rome are both positive and provide for the release of all comrades-in-arms without conditions. As far as the subversive association is concerned, the judges' reasons appear to be based on the arguments of the defense and highlight the lack of the serious evidence necessary to apply the criminal offense of terrorism.

The justification for the review with regard to the offense under Section 270quinquiester, however, focuses on the fact that the offense appears to be largely preparatory in nature and is closely linked to Section 270sexies, which was used to delineate the actions of the alleged terrorist organization. However, according to the judges, the behaviors analyzed by the public prosecutor do not have the necessary obvious gravity to classify them as terrorist, which is consistent with the assessments of the Court of Cassation justifying the release of the five.

However, a few weeks later, the Bologna Court of Appeal, when assessing the same charge, came to a different conclusion and confirmed the detention of the comrade, who was already imprisoned in the AS2 department in Terni. We assume that the different results of the two appeal procedures may have different reasons and hypotheses.

One reason has to do with the different composition of judges: in fact, a certain continuity can be seen in the reasoning of the Roman court, which probably could not have allowed such strong internal contradiction as the court in Bologna did.

A second hypothesis concerns the margin of appreciation in interpreting the offense under Section 270quinquiester, given its recent introduction into the Criminal Code and the lack of legal reference material.

The Bologna Court's review justifies the use of this charge, acknowledging its extremely preventive nature on the grounds of "reason of state" - that is, by arguing that if the government felt the need to introduce this new criminal offense, it was up to the judicial authorities to apply it. The comrade is now free again after almost three months in prison, after an application to lift the security measures was submitted at the beginning of September.

At the moment, the investigations that concern us are still ongoing and some of us are waiting for the hearing before the Court of Cassation, which will take place on November 5th. The appeal filed by the Public Prosecutor's Office simply repeats the hypotheses of the decision on the precautionary measure, considers the justifications for the review to be illogical and reiterates the dangerousness of the suspects due to the seized material, their ideological affiliation and the personal behavior of their associates with a view to evading police control.

The aim of the public prosecutor's office is to concentrate the offense under Section 270bis on the concept of the "affinity group" - one of the organizational forms of informal anarchists - whereby the intent and the presumed dangerousness are considered as prerequisites for the application of the offense in connection with a terrorist organization with subversive goals. Another phase that lies ahead is the evidentiary process following the request for one-off technical investigations, during which an attempt will be made to obtain DNA and fingerprints from the items seized at the sabotage sites.

Part III _ Some marginal notes _

In trying to understand this new anti-anarchist operation, we would like to emphasize above all its preventive nature, which aims not only to target the arrested comrades-in-arms and those still under investigation, but above all to target the entire anarchist movement, its ideas and its practices. Like so many other investigations, this one is based on the established practice of pervasive and preventive surveillance of anarchist circles, consisting of wiretapping, the installation of cameras, GPS devices and room microphones, the main aim of which is to create a widespread feeling of control and, consequently, to urge inaction. A surveillance measure that was maintained for a long time, although it did not produce any results in relation to the original aim, namely the search for Ghespe, who had gone into hiding. This leads to a first note: the great effort that the state has made in recent years to track down comrades-in-arms who have made themselves untraceable (in addition to the case of Ghespe already mentioned, there are, for example, the cases of Luca Dolce, known as "Stecco" and Juan Sorroche, for which ad hoc teams were set up and search measures unusual for anarchist circles were carried out) as well as the supposed networks that made their "escape" possible. Obviously, in the surveillance society that has now been built around us, it is not permissibleunder the radarto remain, and this possibility must be nipped in the bud so that it does not become an imitable model and thus becomes unbearable for the state.

The key point we would like to emphasize, however, is that the investigation follows a series of events that have clearly disturbed law enforcement and, most likely, some parts of the government to the point where a response has become necessary.

This operation takes place in a very special period of time and its timing is not chosen by chance. The protective measures were requested on April 17, a month after the deaths of Sara and Sandro; her order was signed on June 10 and then executed on June 16 - a few days before the decision on the appeal of the extension of the "41 bis" measure for Alfredo from June 12. In addition, in our opinion, although they had no concrete evidence justifying the precautionary measures requested, the investigators were anxious to find those responsible for the series of acts of sabotage along the railway line on the occasion of the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games, probably under pressure from ministers angry about the bad international image created by the disruption to traffic during the Games. As already mentioned, the reasons for attributing the execution of the sabotage to two comrades-in-arms are in fact quite weak and are based only on hypotheses without any material evidence, which indicates an attempt to achieve a result (especially in the media) rather than a belief in the ability to impose severe punishments.

The investigation concerns anarchists from various Italian cities and focuses on Rome - for the simple reason that the public prosecutor's office responsible for the acts of sabotage in Settebagni and Corcolle is that of the capital, but not only for that reason. We recognize this territorial centrality in the role of DNAA5and in the need for the state to send a warning response to the anarchist milieu in Rome, which, in our opinion, inevitably concerns the deaths of the comrades-in-arms Sara and Sandro, the fight against “41 bis” carried out in the city and the long series of actions and acts of sabotage in recent years. An alarmist continuum regarding the danger of anarchist terrorism connects these events: on the one hand, it was intended to create the conditions for taking the wind out of the sails of a possible resumption of the debate on Article 41 bis (and the possibility of questioning the confirmation of this notorious regime for Alfredo), but on the other hand, it served the incumbent government to pin medals of merit on itself and to present itself to the most reactionary part of society as a champion of order, security and, above all, a champion of a tough one crackdown on “those who believe they can threaten the nation’s security.”Proof of this is the fact that some searches specifically sought and confiscated “chemical compounds suitable for the production of explosive devices”, such as chlorine for swimming pools, barbecue lighters and nitrate-containing compounds, in order to link the arrested comrades to the deaths of Sara and Sandro; that some media consciously reported “bombs along the tracks” (rather than simple cable fires); and that the prosecutor assigned to the case quoted “manuals containing information useful in causing derailments” out of context – all with the clear aim of stoking fear of the “anarchist threat” and giving the impression that anarchist action is indiscriminate.

We believe that the preventive nature of the operation is also linked to the role played by the mobilization in solidarity with the Palestinian people that shook Italy last winter. We had not seen such well-attended demonstrations moving through the cities of Italy for years, but above all it seemed impossible that these could lead to situations that would be difficult for law enforcement, institutional politics and structured movement organizations to control. The participation of anarchists in various street actions has certainly not gone unnoticed by the guardians of the democratic order. Not because we were actually able to significantly influence this struggle, but because of the fact - often forgotten even by ourselves - that when the anarchist methods of self-organization without mediation and direct action leave our small niches, spread and are taken up by other social realities, they can be a cause for concern for those in power, since they open up possibilities of ungovernability and spontaneity in the struggles.

Another point to consider is certainly the application of Section 270quinquiester, introduced by this Government with the last Security Decree. This criminal offense punishes the mere “possession of material for terrorist purposes” without the need to prove the intention to act in this sense. The anarchist handbook "To each his own. A thousand ways to sabotage this world" was found in the house of a comrade, while in a room used by another comrade three fanzines were discovered: "Taglio e Cucito", "L'indicatore anarchico" and "Trainstopping" (a brochure in French that tells of the struggle and sabotage actions against the passage of the Castor, a train used to transport nuclear waste from France to Germany will).

The features of this new offense fit neatly into what has been called “enemy criminal law,” as it is quite obvious that the characteristics of the person on whom a particular brochure or video is found determine the terrorist purpose – a shift in prevention from intentions (which are difficult to prove in any case) to an individual’s political and/or social identity. The uncertainty in the interpretation of Section 270quinquiester expands the instruments already available to the authorities by a new means and opens up new worrying scenarios. Indeed, if the mere possession of videos (which went viral on the Internet) showing the activities of the Palestinian armed resistance was enough to sentence the Palestinian Ahmed Salem to more than four years in prison, then we can imagine what consequences a widespread and massive use of this article could have for the press and, more generally, for anarchist reporting. Significant is the recent case of the detention of Giovanni Lago, who was arrested on October 3rd not only for grievous bodily harm to a public official (he is accused of having thrown a bottle during the demonstration on April 18th in Rome in support of Alfredo Cospito and against the "41 bis", which injured a deputy head of the Digos in the face), but also for the offense under § 270quinquies-ter, after alleged on his electronic devices Material was found containing instructions for acts of sabotage and the manufacture of explosive devices.

A continuity can be seen here between the introduction of § 270quinquiester, the increasingly unscrupulous use of incitement offenses, the measures against the anarchist press, the blocking of counter-information sites and the recent attack on the web infrastructure of the “Autistici/Inventati” movement. This strategy, in fact, aims to develop and refine repressive tools to target particular political identities, the expression of particular ideas or the support of particular practices, paving the way for a broader repression of internal dissent. Little by little, the very idea that it is important and necessary to oppose and resist this state of things through struggle and practice in all its various forms is being classified as dangerous and therefore punishable.

In conclusion

We are not writing these lines to lament the loss of freedom afforded by democracy or to denounce the authoritarian tendencies of the government. It has always been clear to us that power takes on the guise that best suits it, and that its totalitarian and oppressive nature always lurks around the corner, ready to be unleashed when necessary. We are anarchists, we want the destruction of the state, capitalism and every social order that is based on the oppression of humans over every other living species, and we are not surprised that we are the focus of the repressive forces. We do not demand a return to the “law” and the “welfare state” to continue to be exploited by capital and its owners and disciplined by the laws and those who write them.

We emphasize the need to spread a radical criticism of this system that is driving ecosystems to catastrophe, that is changing the climate, that is reproducing poverty and social inequalities as a basis for exploitation and power, that is causing and triggering wars, genocides, ethnic cleansings, mass deaths and migrations - and that, in order to cope with all this, incites hatred and fear to justify the existence of the state, its courts, its police and its repressive laws hostile to freedom.
We reaffirm our will to fight for the abolition of all this and to build new forms of organization among people based on individual freedom, solidarity, mutual support, anti-authoritarianism, horizontality and consensus-based decision-making, as well as the abolition of exploitation, all forms of oppression and property.

And that all of this is not granted through the granting of rights, through reforms or generally through the idea of ​​ever greater progress in the field of democracy, but that it has to be fought for by reclaiming all those areas of life that the state has taken away from us - that is clearer to us as anarchists today than ever before. We therefore acknowledge the demands and the conflictual nature of the demonstrations for Palestine, which have moved into an area of ​​irreversibility with their demand for the termination of all relations with the genocidal and segregating state of Israel; we recognize ourselves in the fight against 41bis, for the freedom of Alfredo and the revolutionary prisoners imprisoned there, because the fight for the abolition of 41bis means calling into question blackmail and institutionalized torture and thus the state itself; Therefore, we recognize sabotage as a possible form of resistance - not the only one, but fully legitimate in its effort to stop the mobilization of society for war, the devastation of territories, the harmfulness of wage labor, and the violence and arrogance of power and its servants in uniform. And we recognize all those practices and struggles of resistance and revolution that, in this part of the world as elsewhere, every day throw sand instead of oil into the wheels of the system.

We express our solidarity with Alfredo Cospito, imprisoned under the notorious 41bis regime; with Ghespe, Stecco, Juan and all those who evaded “justice” to follow the paths of freedom and who today have to endure the vengeance of the state; to Ahmed Salem and all people affected by repression in solidarity with Palestine; to all people who are being investigated and prosecuted as part of anti-anarchist operations; to all comrades affected by Operation Ipogeo; to all the people affected by the various repressive procedures resulting from the campaign to abolish 41bis.

To fellow Greek anarchists who are facing a new wave of repression; to the companions and family of Juan Aliste, an imprisoned revolutionary who died in a Chilean prison on October 11th. The Chilean state refused to release him until the end, even though he was in very critical health. Confirmation that the extremely long prison sentences - his was 42 years - are de facto a death sentence.

Our solidarity goes out to the comrades who fight unreservedly.

To Sandro, Sara and Kyriakos. Your persistent pursuit of freedom is ours too.

For anarchy.

9 penguins + the cat and the fox

Text in original:https://brughiere.espivblogs.net/2026/10/28/conversazioni-pericolose-tes...

1“Association with the aim of terrorism, including at the international level, or the undermining of the democratic order” or “acts with the aim of terrorism”.

2Abbreviation for “General Investigations and Special Operations Division”

3Article 41-bis is an article of the Italian Penal Code and the harshest prison regime that exists in Italy.[Note: d. transl.]

4Abbreviation for “High Security 2”, a special detention area for prisoners or suspects who are accused of crimes related to terrorism - including international - or undermining the democratic order [note. d. transl.]

5Abbreviation for “National Directorate to Combat the Mafia and Terrorism”. The DNAA is the coordination body of the district prosecutor's offices and is formally established within the framework of the General Prosecutor's Office at the Supreme Court of Cassation. [Note d. transl.]

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