Two Italian anarchists died on Friday after an explosion in a storage unit on the outskirts of Rome, where they were allegedly building a bomb, according to reports on Saturday.
The pair, identified as Alessandro Mercogliano and Sara Ardizzone, were reportedly preparing actions to draw attention to Alfredo Cospito, a prominent figure in Italy’s anarchist movement.
Cospito, aged 58, is serving a prison sentence of over 20 years for orchestrating bomb attacks and other assaults targeting authorities around a decade ago.
He is currently held under the strict 41-bis detention regime, typically reserved for individuals convicted of mafia-related or terrorist crimes. Human rights organisations often criticise this form of imprisonment.
A court is set to rule in May on whether Cospito’s detention conditions should be eased, leading media outlets to speculate that the bomb-making efforts might have been connected to this upcoming decision.
