Report on the vigil against the death penalty

Dedicated to the Afghan journalist Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh

On Thursday 22nd August in Torremaggiore in the province of Foggia, Apulia, the birthplace of Ferdinando (aka Nicola) Sacco, an event was held to mark the 81st anniversary of the death by electric chair of Sacco and Vanzetti, organized by the Association which bears the name of the two Italian anarchists, in cooperation with Amnesty International, Nessuno Tocchi Caino and the World Coalition Against The Death Penalty.

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Torremaggiore, 22-23 August 2008

Vigil against the death penalty

Dedicated to the Afghan journalist Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh
On the 81st anniversary of the death of Sacco & Vanzetti in the electic chair

On Thursday 22nd August in Torremaggiore in the province of Foggia, Apulia, the birthplace of Ferdinando (aka Nicola) Sacco, an event was held to mark the 81st anniversary of the death by electric chair of Sacco and Vanzetti, organized by the Association which bears the name of the two Italian anarchists, in cooperation with Amnesty International, Nessuno Tocchi Caino and the World Coalition Against The Death Penalty.

At 8.30pm, the town square at Torremaggiore was filled with over 100 people and a forum for debate and reflection was held on the Sacco & Vanzetti affair and the death penalty today.

The event was chaired by Matteo Marolla and there was a series of speeches by guests, including Fernanda Sacco who presented her book, and Lia Didero of the Federazione dei Comunisti Anarchici. There was a strong accent on thestruggle against the death penalty in the world; the past and present role, presence and significance of anarchism and of Italian and anarchist emigrants to the USA was recorded in the video on the Torremaggiore initiative, prepared by RAInews 24 and presented by Corradino Mineo. There was also significant reference to the situation of immigrants in Italy today.

At the end of the forum there was a musical performance and readings of some of Sacco's letters and articles by the anarchist Carlo Tresca, who was at the time editor of the New York anarchist newspaper, "Il martello". There then followed a showing of Montaldo's famous film on the Sacco & Vanzetti affair; during the interval, a candlelight procession led to the tomb of Nicola Sacco at the moment when the two Italian anarchists were murdered in the electric chair on 23rd August, 81 years ago.

The Sacco & Vanzetti Association was formed a year ago. It has in front of it the important and difficult task of avoiding rhetoric and the pointless beatification of Sacco and Vanzetti while at the same time seeking to renew their memory in promoting initiatives inspired by the same values of equality and freedom that inspired Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti.

National Secretariat
FEDERAZIONE DEI COMUNISTI ANARCHICI

23 August 2008