Some biographical notes. From the Solidarity Initiative in Athens, March 2010
Alfredo Maria Bonnano was born in 1937 in Catania, Sicily. In October 1972 he was arrested, convicted and imprisoned in Catania prison for subversive action, because of some articles that were published in Sinistra Libertaria, a publication that was born out of an assembly of people from struggles that were happening in many different cities in Italy. During that period and the years that followed, he participated with thousands of other fighters in the multiform and widespread insurrectional wave, the storming of the heavens that was to sweep through the Italian peninsula with a unique, for European postwar standards, density and intensity.
In 1977 his book La goia armata (Armed Joy) is circulated, a publication for which he is convicted to 18 months in jail and which was censored for a long time. In March 1980, based on the testimony of the repentant Enrico Paghera, Bonnano along with five more comrades are accused of being members of Azione Rivoluzionaria. They are released a few months later and cleared of the charges in April 1981. Azione Rivolutionaria was one of the armed groups of the movement who from 1976 until the early 80s was to make a series of attacks against targets and persons that represented the State, capital and media. The reasoning expressed through its texts and communiques, in contrast to those of the other armed groups, had clear anarchist and situationist references, stood critically opposite the ideas of marxism and the revolutionary left, opposite the the formations of the armed party, for the seeking of the revolutionary subject and propagated with its action the extension and multiform aspect of the struggle. After two trials in 1982 and 1983 (in Florence and Milan) dozens of comrades will be convicted to heavy sentences as members of A.R.In June 1984, in a period of heavy oppression and intense ideological terrorism where the laws about “repentance” and “segregation” were accepted by many members of the armed groups and the political front of the majority of the movement was “amnesty” and “let’s free the 70s” Alfredo publishes an article in the Anarchismo magazine under the memorable title “And we will always be ready to storm the heavens once again”, subtitled “Against amnesty”. Alfredo’s work at the level of analysis and theory is rich and varied. From the middle of the 70s onwards, Anarchismo editions and the pages of Anarchismo magazine and later through the anarchist papers Provocatione and Canenero (Black Dog), examine organisational matters, bringing back terms such as infinity groups [gruppi di affinita] and selforganised stuctures, something that will make him in the target of the oppressive mechanisms), he published numerous books about the history of the anarchist movement, he analyzed the stuctures of the technological/scientific complex of the state and capital maintaining that the fragile and vulnerable point of the state in the post industrialist age is located in the widespread social field (to dispute the redbrigade position about the “heart of the state”), he, through an insurrectional prism, put under critique the anarchosyndicalist position (expressed mainly through the Federazione Anarchica Italiana [Italian Anarchist Federation] considering it absurd and innefectual for the inversion of the existing situation of things, he often speaks about prisons and the prisoners’ struggle, from early on he talks with particular acuteness about the changes that will occur on a psychological and material level as the “digital era” enters. In 1988 and during the anti-militarist congress in the town of Forli, Bonnano and other comrades of the insurrectional tendency of the anarchist movement are kicked out of the congress by the majority of the anarchosyndicalist tendency of F.A.I. In 1989 he will be accused and arrested for the robbery of a jewellery shop in Bergamo. At the begining of 1993 he arrives in Greece to attend a series of discussions and events organized by the Anarchist Initiative in Athens, Thessaloniki, and Patras and presents an intruduction entitled “the new transformation of capitalism on a world level”.6 years later, in July 1999 he testifies as a witness for anarchist Nikos Maziotis, accused of placing a bomb at the ministry of industry and development, an action for which he took responsibility. In September 1996 the Italian state unleashes a repressive pogrom against the insurrectional part of the anarchist movement. The repressive methods began 2 years earlier with the arrest of 5 comrades (Antonio Budini, Jean Weir, Carlo Tesseri, Evaggelia Tzoutzia and Christos Stratigopoulos) who are accused of the robbery of a savings bank in Serravalle in Trento and afterwards will be accused of two more unsolved robberies. On 16/11/95 while their trial was coming to an end the special department of the carabinieri R.O.S. raid many houses of anarchists (as well as the cells of imprisoned comrades) based on accusations for constitution of a subversive organisation and armed gang, robberies, kidnappings, gun possession, murders e.t.c. The maestro of these cleansing operations will be the then public prosecutor Antonio Marini, who uses the fake witness Nametschi Mojdeh. Based on the Marini theory, on 17/9/96, 60 anarchists are accused of being part of an illegal hierarchically structured armed organisation, which the persecutory mechanisms will baptise O.R.A.I. [Insurrectional Anarchist Revolutionary Organisation], a name which was never used in a responsibility claim for any action. For 29 of them their will be arrest warrants. Through the Marini theory the houses of comrades and the squats are baptised “dens”, pamflets were transformed into tools of internal use of the “armed gang”, personal relations were presented as contacts of its members. At the same time the media create the profile of the “bad anarchists” that have been kicked out of the “good anarchists” of the F.A.I. In this orchestrated fabrication, the persecutory mechanisms will reserve for Alfredo Bonnano the role of leader and theoretical instructor of the insurrectional tendency of the anarchist movement. After three degrees of trials and many years of comrades being held hostage, the show with prosecutor Marini as the director was completed on 20/4/2004. The main accusation of forming and being part of an armed group collapses, but 7 comrades are convicted in the end for individual offences to sentences that range from 6 years to life in jail. Among them, Bonnano is sentenced to 6 years in jail and fined 2000 euro for subversive propaganda. He will serve part of his sentence in Trieste prison and the rest on home arrest. Three months after the end of the Marini trial parody the Italian State unleashes a new repressive operation, baptised “Cervantes”. About 40 raids and searches in anarchists’ houses and squats are made in several cities in the country and 4 comrades are arrested. The main charge is, as well constitution and participation in the “subversive organisation with terrorist intetions” Federazione Anarchica Informale, which from the end of 2003 had claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on structures of the state. Ten months later it will be proven that operation “cervantes” was a preface of a generalized oppressive pogrom. Between 12 and 26/5/2005 the special forces of police and carabinieri with orders from the prosecutors of Lecce, Cagliari, Rome and Bologna will make 190 raids on houses and squats of comrades and arrest 22 of them. The charges are various (planting explosive devices, sending letter bombs, attacks with paint and destruction of shops, incitment in immigrant prisoners revolt, subversive propaganda etc). But the most serious charges based on articles 270 and 270 bis are those of “constitution and participation in a subversive organisation with terrorist intentions for the inverse of democratic order” and concern the F.A.I. The official charges follow religiously, although with different methodology, the recipe of the Marini theory, according to which the anarchist insurrectional movement is organised at two levels: the obvious one that acts through demonstrations, squatting, postering etc., and the secret one which is organised in “affinity groups” [which constitutes the F.A.I.] and make the “terrorist” attacks. In this theory which juridicially has not been completed, the persecuting mechanisms and mass media will name once more Alfredo Bonnano as the theoretical leader of the insurrectional tendency of the anarchist movement. In March 2009 Alfredo returns to Greece, invited by the Free Institute of Social Research because of a publication of a collection of his articles entitled “Domination and insurrection in the postindustrialist era: included and excluded” and will speak in public events in many cities in Greece. On the first of October 2009 he is arrested along with Christos Stratigopoulos, accused of robbing a bank in Trikala. Christos takes responsibility for the action while Alfredo denies the charges. Since then the two comrades are prisoners of the Greek state. Until now there have been 2 applications for the release of Afredo and 1 for Christos. Especially for A.Bonnano, the prosecutor says “he leans towards illegal actions and his temperament is photographed in his writings” proving the vengeful attitude of the judicial authorities that are continuing to ignore the serious health problems that the 73 yearold comrade has. The next hearing for release is on the 26/3/10 [*this was rejected as well*]…boubourAs translations…