The involvement of the Italian Government in the Turin proceedings has produced multiple benefits including pressure being exerted by Italian politicians on European Union officials to act on the European asbestos catastrophe. At a meeting in April 2012, the Italian Government called on EU Commissioner John Dalli to create an EU network of asbestos-related disease centres of excellence. See: Italian Government takes Asbestos Safety and Care Concerns to EU! http://ibasecretariat.org/bm-italian-government-takes-asbestos-safety-concerns-to-eu.php

Just weeks after the historic verdict in Turin, one of the world's leading asbestos lobbying groups closed down! On May 1, news was obtained which verified the fact that at the end of March 2012, the offices rented by the Chrysotile Institute in downtown Montreal had been vacated. Days later the Institute surrendered its charter to the Canadian Government and thereby signalled the end to nearly 30 years of asbestos lobbying. This is a historic event and one which is a huge victory for all those people, in Italy and elsewhere, who have been campaigning to ban asbestos. These developments are documented in an article entitled: The rise and Fall of the Chrysotile Institute which can be read at:…

We're glad to publish a news from Canda by Kathleen Ruff.

For 27 years, the federal government has financed the Chrysotile Institute (previously called the Asbestos Institute) and has given it over $20 million in funding. In April 2011, in the face of mounting strong criticism, the Harper government stopped its funding, although the Quebec government continued its funding.

Around the world the Chrysotile Institute has played the leading role of propagandist for the global asbestos industry and has been condemned by scientists for the false and dangerous misinformation it has disseminated. The Chrysotile Institute had earlier tried to put pressure on the federal government to continue financing…

We remind the reader that Mr. Schmidheiny had the chance to rebut the charges - for more than two years - directly in the trial but has always refused to appear before the courts of Turin.

Incomprehension at Verdict against Stephan Schmidheiny Unfounded Claims – Serious Violations of Legal Procedure

Today the criminal Court of first instance in Turin found Stephan Schmidheiny among other guilty of intentional omission of proper health and safety measures and intentionally causing a disaster at the former…

The verdict handed down on February 13, 2012 by the Turin court was a historic indictment of the behaviour of corporate executives who sanctioned the use of dangerous working parties in the pursuit of profit.

Stephan Schmidheiny and Jean-Louis de Cartier de Marchienne were found guilty of crimes which led to the asbestos-related deaths of thousands of Italians.

After waiting for over three decades to see justice done, the verdict – 16 years in jail and penalties amounting to millions of euros  – was warmly received by asbestos victims, grieving relatives and members of the public from Casale Monferrato and other Italian towns poisoned by Eternit operations. Commenting on the day’s events, Public Prosecutor Raffaele Guariniello said that the verdict has given us all “the right to dream that justice can be done and must be done.”

In recognition of Guariniello’s pivotal role in this case, a copy of the new book: Eternit and…

While waiting for the verdict, retired math and science teacher Giovanni Condolo, remembers a tour at the Ronzone plant where he was taking one of his classes from Ticineto on a school trip.



The story was posted on Facebook yesterday: ‘The managers welcomed us and took us round the facilities’.

Then they got annoyed when a girl asked them how many people who worked at Eternit ever reached retirement age. The teacher asked the girl why she was asking such a question and she said: ’My father told me to ask’. ‘And what does your father do?’ asked the teacher. He is a doctor she answered.

The managers were trained to answer the treacherous questions but how were they to deal with a young busybody. This is what the people of Casale can not forgive, even before being informed of the technical and legal motivations in the February the 13th verdict: the fact that the owners of Eternit and the top management knew…

STEPHAN SCHMIDHEINY: Il “BILL GATES SVIZZERO” O “IL PADRINO” DELL’ASBESTO?

LA MIRABOLANTE STORIA DI UN UOMO D’AFFARI

Fernanda Giannasi[1]

Ecco come Stephan Schmidheiny, il miliardario svizzero erede dell’impero Eternit, si difende pubblicamente dall’accusa di aver permesso per quasi un secolo l’uso dell’amianto nelle imprese familiari sparse per il mondo. Lo fa tramite il suo sito internet, tradotto in varie lingue. L’amianto è noto per essere cancerogeno, ed è responsabile della maggior catastrofe sanitaria di cui si abbia notizia nella storia contemporanea.

“La polemica sui potenziali effetti nocivi della polvere di amianto è stata uno shock per me sotto molti aspetti. Io stesso sono stato esposto alle fibre di questo materiale durante il mio stage in Brasile. Caricavo sacchi di amianto e gettavo le fibre nel…

            Decretada de Utilidade Pública Federal através da Portaria n.º 2.413 de 16 de dezembro de 2.005 do Ministério da Justiça, Secretaria Nacional de Justiça, Departamento de Justiça, Coordenação de Justiça, Títulos e Qualificação Divisão de Outorgas, Títulos e Qualificação.  

Decretada de Utilidade Pública Estadual através da Lei n.º 11.703 de 21 de maio de 2.004 da Assembléia Legislativa do Estado de São Paulo.  

                           Declarada de Utilidade Pública Municipal através da Lei n.º 3.726 de 05/12/2002 da Municipalidade de Osasco/SP                                                 

     Brasile, San Paolo,…

20 years of jail for the owners of Eternit

"Schmidheiny and de Cartier were aware of the dangers"

At the 50th hearing of the Eternit trial, the PP asked for a very heavy sentence for the company owners and top management ‘I have never witnessed a disaster such as this, affecting communities and workers and which will continue to reap deaths for time to come’.

‘An appalling disaster’ this is how PP Guariniello described the events involving the asbestos multinational in the court room today. The PP asked for 20 years each for both the top managers of the company accused of wilful and malicious disaster.

‘I re-read the sentences the High Court pronounced in the most…