Italy: A Swiss billionaire and a Belgian baron have been found guilty and sentenced to 16 years each in prison by an Italian court in a ground breaking trial over more than 3000 asbestos-related deaths.
Stephan Schmidheiny, 64, the former owner of a company making Eternit fibre cement, and Jean-Louis Marie Ghislain de Cartier de Marchienne, 90, a major shareholder, were sentenced in absentia after being found guilty of causing an environmental disaster and failing to comply with safety regulations. They were also ordered to pay Euro30,000 in damages to relatives of people killed by asbestos-related diseases and Euro35,000 for every sick person, as well as other payouts expected to total tens of millions of Euros.
"It's a fair verdict which acknowledges their responsibility," said lawyer Sergio Bonetto. "The problem now is to see if the condemned men will face up to their obligations."
Prosecutors said Eternit failed to stop asbestos fibres left over from production of roof coverings and pipes at its northern Italian factories from spreading across the region. During the trial, which started in December 2009, some 2100 deaths or illnesses were blamed on the asbestos fibres. Such crimes usually carry a maximum 12-year sentence, but prosecutors had sought a harsher punishment because, they say, the fall-out continues to affect its victims. Defence lawyers denied that the accused had direct responsibility for the Italian company, and the pair have been absent from court throughout.
Italian health minister Renato Balduzzi hailed the verdict by the three-judge Turin court as 'without exaggeration, truly historic,' noting that it came after a long battle for justice.
