First hearing a Turin for the first criminal case For negligent environmental pollution. The “smog trial” sees the municipal and regional public administrators sued who, from 2015 to 2019, were required to deal with the air quality of the city of Turin.
Turin, the first criminal trial for negligent environmental pollution begins
The smog process underway in Turin sees high state officials accused and sued for the crime of negligent environmental pollution. The reason? The air quality of the city of Turin which from 2015 to 2019 exceeded the limits permitted by law regarding pollutants in the air. It all started in 2017 after the complaint presented by Roberto Mezzalamapresident of the Torino Respira Committee.
Own The Torino Breathe Committeewho requested to be a civil party, underlined: “It’s about the first criminal trial of this kind in Italyin which the administrators of local public bodies are charged with the crime of negligent environmental pollution, which the legislator introduced in 2015 for more effective protection of the environment”.
There are many names municipal and regional public administrators sued: the former mayors Chiara Appendino and Piero Fassinoand the former president of the Piedmont Region Sergio Chiamparino. Also the councilors Alberto Unia, Stefania Giannuzzi, Enzo Lavolta, Matteo Marnati and Alberto Valmaggia. They had the task of protecting the air quality of the city of Turin.
Serious state of air pollution in Turin: trial in the Courtroom
Roberto Mezzalama, president of the Torino Respira committee, underlined: “The thing that surprised me most when I started looking for data to do so was that reports by ARPA epidemiologists were published on the Municipality and Region websites which clearly spoke Of many hundreds of deaths due to smog every year. So it was clear that the administrators were perfectly aware of the situation, but were not at all making the decisions necessary to solve the problem.”
The Court of Turin is called upon to decide whether or not to continue the trial; a process that could see a direct confrontation between prosecution and defense “to understand the reasons for the serious state of air pollution in Turinthe damage to health caused by smog and also the possible responsibilities of those who had the task of protecting the quality of the air and the health of citizens” as specified by Marino Careglio, lawyer of the Torino Respira Committee.
The polluted air in Turin has caused premature deaths and numerous hospitalizations as specified by Mezzalama: “The information on pollution and its deadly effects was already available on the websites of the Municipality and the Region”. Marino Careglio added: “If the court decides to continue the trial, a crucial confrontation will open between the prosecution and the defense, with authoritative experts on both sides.”
