Rome, Italy – Thousands across Italy have been protesting against the harsh conditions of Alfredo Cospito’s imprisonment, as fears for the 55-year-old anarchist’s health grow with his hunger strike extending 150 days.

Cospito was jailed for 10 years in 2012 for shooting the chief of a nuclear energy company in the leg, in his words “to punish one of the many sorcerers of the atomic industry”, and was later handed a life sentence for setting off two bombs in front of a police academy near Turin in 2006. Both attacks were non-fatal, and while no one was injured in the bombing, investigators concluded that the explosives were designed to kill.

In May, he was moved to 41-bis, a form of solitary confinement known colloquially as “hard prison” and usually reserved for hardened criminals, such as mafia bosses, becoming the first anarchist to be punished under the regime.

He began a hunger strike in October, and has pledged to protest against 41-bis “until his last breath”.

“Today I am ready to die to make the world understand what 41-bis really is,” he wrote from prison this month. “I am convinced that my death will be an obstacle to this regime.”

Cospito has reportedly lost more than 50kg (110 pounds) and has been in and out of the hospital, raising concerns that his health could be irreparably damaged.

The Italian government says Cospito will be force-fed when it becomes necessary, based on consultation with the National Bioethics Council.

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