Italian court convicts managers in landmark asbestos trial

Feb 13, 2012, 15:33 GMT

Rome - In a landmark ruling, a court in Italy on Monday sentenced a Swiss billionaire and a 91-year-old Belgian baron to 16 years in prison in connection with the death by asbestos-poisoning of thousands of workers employed by a construction firm during the 1970s and 1980s.

'Without overemphasis, the sentencing can be really described as historic,' Italian Health Minister Renato Balduzzi said.

Stephan Schmidheiny, the former owner of the Eternit construction firm, and Jean-Louis Marie Ghislain de Cartier de Marchienne, a leading shareholder from Belgium, faced charges of grievous harm caused by plants operated by the firm before Italy banned asbestos use, in 1992.

The two, who were tried in absentia, were also found guilty of 'removing safety precautions' at the Eternit plants, said Giuseppe Casalbore, the presiding magistrate of the Turin court.

In Zurich, a spokesman for Schmidheiny, who is in his 60s, said he would appeal the ruling.

In Italy both prosecutors and defendants can appeal twice before court rulings become definitive.

Prosecutors had asked for sentences of 20 years in prison for Schmidheiny and Ghislainde Cartier de Marchienne.

It was not immediately clear if Italian authorities would seek the extradition of the two.

The court also awarded damages amounting to millions of euros to several plaintiffs in the case, including municipalities of two towns in northwestern Italy where Eternit plants had been situated.

Former workers and relatives of the victims were awarded an average of 30,000 euros (39,500 dollars) each.

Balduzzi described the ruling as 'crowning a long battle which saw the (Italian) Republic, in the sense of all its institutional levels, fight side by side ... with labour unions and groups representing relatives of the victims.'

The trial, which began in December 2009 after a five-year inquiry by prosecutors, involved a mass civil action, with some 6,000 people seeking damages for the deaths of around 3,000 people who worked at or lived near Eternit's Italian-based plants during the 1970s and 80s.

The case is one of the biggest in the world involving the toxic effects of asbestos - a fibrous mineral that was once widely used for insulation and fireproofing.

The Italy chapter of the World Wildlife Fund also welcomed Monday's ruling, as the court had recognized the fact that an 'environmental disaster' had been caused, a legal expert of the environmental group, Patizia Fantilli, said.

'The sentences can be used in other cases' around the world, Fantilli added.