Military Periscope :: Cell against Capital, Prison, Prison Warders<BR><DD>and Prison Cells (CCCCC)

Cell against Capital, Prison, Prison Warders

and Prison Cells (CCCCC)

Group Name:

Cellula contro Capitale Carcere e i suoi Carcerieri e le sue Celle (CCCCC); Cell against Capital, Prison, Prison Warders and Prison Cells; Cinque C; Five Cs

Location/Area of Operation:

Italy, Spain

Stated Purpose:

The CCCCC is an Italian anarchist group that opposes prisons and penitentiary systems.

A letter included in a bomb mailed to a Spanish newspaper in 2002 said the group wanted to "broaden the struggle on behalf of all prison detainees" and demonstrate solidarity with all prisoners, especially those "on hunger strike in the Spanish jails." The letter also called for the release of prisoners who were ill. The letter also demanded the abolition of solitary confinement cells in prisons.

Strength:

Unknown

External Aid and Links:

Linked with other Italian anarchist groups under the Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI). Allies include the July 20th Brigade, International Solidarity and the Cooperative of Hand-Made Fire & Related Items.

Activities:

The group has one reported attack, a letter bomb to a Spanish newspaper. CCCCC has threatened several other Spanish targets -- Spanish newspapers, Spanish schools inside Italy, Spanish airlines and a Spanish motorcycle racer. According to the group, these targets are responsible for the prison system or the capitalist conditions that led to their creation.

Overview:

The groups comprising the Informal Anarchist Federation are the "July 20th Brigade," the "Five Cs," "International Solidarity" and the "Cooperative of Hand-Made Fire & Related Items." Each of these groups has also forged its own set of alliances outside of the FAI.

The group has three suspected members imprisoned in Spain, which may explain the Spanish focus of the threatened target list.

Alleged leaders Giovanni Barcia and Claudio Lavazza are in prison at Huelva in southern Spain for the murder of two policemen during a bank robbery in 1996 in Cordoba, Spain. Barcia was later transferred to a prison in Almeria. Both are serving 50-year sentences.

A third suspected member was convicted of robbery in the same incident; Michele Pontolillo was sent to Villabona prison in the Asturias region.

Group Chronology:

2002

Dec. 12: CCCCC mailed a parcel containing a signed letter and a book with approximately 50 grams of explosives to the offices of the El Pais daily newspaper in Barcelona, Spain. The suspicious parcel was detected during a mail screening and defused by police.

2004

May 17: The European Union added CCCCC to its list of terrorist organizations.

Last Updated:

December 2008