Won't be force fed if I lose consciousness says Cospito

(ANSA) - ROME, FEB 3 - Alfredo Cospito, a 55-year-old anarchist leader on a hunger strike for 107 days against the harsh mafia-style 41 bis prison regime he is being held under, said Friday he would not be force fed if his conditions worsens to the extent he becomes unconscious, and also refused a psychiatric assessment.
    Informal anarchist Federation (FAI) leader Cospito, who is serving 30 years for two terror attacks, sent a statement to the penitentiary authority DAP in which he expressed his will not to be force-fed, should his condition worsen to such an extent that he loses consciousness.
    It is believed to be the first time a prisoner on hunger strike has made such a declaration.
    There will be several legal profiles to be assessed, therefore, in case it comes to a critical situation from the health point of view, legal sources said.
    Cospito's lawyer said two days ago he was at a critical threshold having lost over 45kg on his hunger strike, but the prisoner said Thursday he would keep up his campaign to get 41 bis abolished for all, including mafiosi, even if there were to be irreparable consequences.
    Cospito was moved earlier this week from a Sardinian jail to Milan's Opera Prison where better medical facilities are available.
    In refusing the psychiatric evaluation, Cospito said he was in full possession of his faculties despite his apparent desire to self harm.
    He repeated, to those who have had the opportunity to meet him in recent hours like Left/Green MP Ilaria Cucchi, whose brother died in prison after a beating in 2009, that he has 'no intention' of interrupting his form of protest.
    What worries the prison doctors, given his condition, is the possible onset of heart disease, they said.
    On Thursday, prison sources said, some books he had with him were returned to him, after appropriate checks. (ANSA).