The drama of asbestos returns to Shake Casale Monferrato. The new sentence against Stephan Schmidheiny arouses pain and fear: the city fears that, again, justice can collapse to the recipe, which is complied with a quiet massacre
Eternit Bis Trial, Schmidheiny sentenced to 9 and a half years for manslaughter. Casal fears the recipe
At the end of the eleventh hearing of the Eternit BIS process, the Turin Appeal Court of Appeal, chaired by judge Cristina Diuachi, Stephan Schmidheiny for 9 years and 6 months in prison.
The verdict refers to countless defendants who have been moved by the public ministries Sara Panelli, Gianfranco Colace and Mariagiovanna, with the support of the civil parties.
The sentence determines whether Schmidheiny is guilty of the “ContinuousAand massive introduction of asbestos fibers ” In the factory and in the surrounding environment.
One is also disputed “Long -term disinformation work”, from which the “Uncontrolled diffusion of pathologies”. According to the accusation, they were diseases of which “Gravity was known” Already at the time of the facts.
The period considered from 1976 to 1986, when the accused was the director of the Asbestos Cement Multinational.
«A sentence that does not cancel the pain, but confirms a fundamental principle: the life and health of people come first – The lawyer comments Ezio Bonannipresident of theNational Asbestos Observatory and the civil lawyer -. After years of legal fighting, a punishment has arrived today that gives votes to the victims of asbestos and the seriousness of what happened, acknowledges. A conviction that does not cancel the pain, but confirms a fundamental principle: the life and health of people come first. It is a strong signal that says that those who pollute, those who hide, those who make a profit for safety cannot be unpunished. The court’s decision is a victory of memory, dignity and truth. For those who have fought for years, often in silence, our deepest respect today ».
Reduced
The Swiss magnate, the only accused in the process with regard to the Filone of Casal Monferrato, saw the punishment reduced to the 12 years that were inflicted in Novara in June 2023.
The general public prosecutor had asked for life imprisonment, in support of the hypothesis of murder with possible malice, which would have had much longer recipe times.
The procedure initially concerned 392 victims of Mesothelioma: 62 were employees from the eternity of Casal Monferrato, closed in 1986.
The other 330 were simple citizens of nearby areas, never came to the Death Factory, but exposed to his deadly substance.
The defense of Stephan Schmidheiny
One of the lawyers of Stephan Schmidheiny, the lawyer Guido Carlo Alva, disputed the firmness of the evidence presented by the accusation. Alva has questioned the diagnoses of Mesothelioma and the data that connects the increase in cases in the presence of the eternal factory.
According to the defense, there is no certain causal link between the environmental damage due to asbestos and the production activity of the factory in the city. The Alva lawyer underlined the incorrect use of the concrete asbest and his waste as a possible alternative cause.
Finally, the defender of Schmidhein remembered that the inventor of the concrete asbest was Adolfo Pietro Mazza, originally from Casal Monferrato.
However, Mazza only started producing fiber since 1907. In fact, he bought the license to produce eternity, patented in 1901 by the Austrian Ludwig Hatschek.
392 are not numbers but people
The Public Prosecutor Sara Panelli has responded firmly to objections from Defense.
Recalled that they were heard in class “The most important experts in the field of mesothelioma”. “Doctors who have conducted studies to treat people and observe cases, those men and women are in flesh and blood, not of hypotheses”.
He then repeated that the victims indicated in the indictment are not figures, but “392 people with the weight of a person’s life history”.
People whose existence was characterized by “Condition of employees in the turn of the century of Casal Monferrato and residents in the city and the surrounding area”.
Recognized the heavy manslaughter
Even the judges of appeal therefore determined the punishment in 9 years and 6 months, because in some positions it was considered the fact that it was not -best. Just like that of the first instance, they have excluded the voluntary murder and recognized the aggravated culpable murder.
According to the Court of Novara invalid the security rules, aware of the specific risk of death for employees.
In the meantime, you continue to die in Casal. From 2017, the year of closing the Eternit Bis survey, there are 414 new victims of Mesothelioma.
These are citizens who are not related to the factory, struck by an evil that no one has saved, but excluded from the procedural file.
Many of them would have been exposed to powder, an industrial waste that is used for years in the local construction, according to data from Afeva.
In March, The cassation has canceled again A sentence to Schmidheiny for the death of a Cavagnolo employee.
That case, together with others, could have influenced the judgment of the Turinhof.
The defense of the entrepreneur has already announced the appeal.
Highly reduced compensation
With the sentence, the compensation was greatly reduced compared to the first instance, when they exceeded 100 million euros. Until the presidency of the council, only 500 thousand euros. The municipality of Casale Monferrato is currently owing 5 million.
The President of the City Council, Giovanni Battista Filiberti“ comment on the reimbursement assigned to the municipality and stated that the sum received is “Satisfying and proportional to the use of the city institution”. A constant dedication, he added, at the head “Multiple problems and difficulties” coupled with the legacy of eternity.
Schmidhein’s silence
Stephan Schmidheiny, this time too, opted for silence. He never participated in any hearing in the process, nor was he present at the time of the sentence. As already happened in all other disputes that were carried out in Italy, it has always avoided the classroom.
His lawyers have announced that they will appeal to the Court of Cassation. In the meantime, time flows and everything threatens to erase everything. Under appeal, practices and deferment, the conditions for assessing the crimes are at risk. The recipe would, if coming, cancel a practical effect of the sentence.
The fear of recipe
In 2014, the recipe brushed the maxi test on the environmental disaster in which Rubiera, Bagnoli and Cavagnolo were also involved.
The fear that the same epilogue will be repeated today concerns the city of Casale Monferrato.
The editorial staff of the environment of the environment thanks the colleague Maddalena Brunasti in pressure for the quotes, photos and videos that he has friendly paid us.