“Meanwhile, the statute of limitations looms and the victims remain without justice”.
This is the comment of the President ofNational Asbestos Observatorythe lawyer Ezio Bonanni to the news of the pronouncement of the Court of Cassation That, for the umpteenth timehas the conviction was annulled for asbestos victims in Eternit Bis process.
Nothing done for the judgment that see accused the Swiss tycoon, Stephan Ernest Schmidheinywhich had already obtained one from the Court of Appeal of Turin reduction of sentence for manslaughter to one year and 8 months Of imprisonment.
A process to be redone: the documents will be referred for appeal e in the meantime the crimes will lapse. Justice denied For Julius Testoreemployed in the plant SACA Eternit by Cavagnolo (Turin) e died in 2008 due to asbestosis for theexposure to asbestos.
In 2018, at first instance, Schmidheiny was sentenced to 4 years in prison for manslaughter. OR
as well as Testore, who had breathed the dangerous mineral in work environments for approximately twenty-seven years, the case of Rita Rondano had been examined, died in 2012 for a pleural mesothelioma a few months after diagnosis.
The woman had suffered a double exposure to killer fiber: residential, since he lived less than a kilometer from the Cavagnolo plant, and agricultural work since he carried out his tasks on land not far from the offending plant, previously contaminated by asbestos.
The defense of the industrialist however, he had challenged the provision And on appealin partial reform of the sentence applied, the Swiss tycoon he had had to answer exclusively for Thestor’s death.
There sorry had therefore been reduced to 1 year and 8 months of imprisonmentwith the granting the benefit of conditional suspension.
The Court also had excluding the right to compensation for the worker’s relatives because signatories of a settlement to close another criminal trial against other Eternit executives.
The Testore heirs had introduced Therefore appeal to the Supreme Courtbut Also the lawyers of Schmidheinywhich they got the exclusion of compensation in favor of bodies and associations constituted as civil parties, including L’National Asbestos Observatorychaired by the lawyer. Ezio Bonanniwhich emphasizes: “We cannot understand, nor agree with, the Court’s decision. Our commitment, however, will continue in all the competent offices, for the clean-up, safety, medical and compensation protection of all the victims and their families”.
