the Eternit trial report, Torino (Italy)
FINAL REPORT - public trial will start on December 10th, 2009
Finally today, July 22th 2009, the good news, the only possible solution after many years of struggle for justice. The two Eternit former managers Schmidheiny and De Cartier De Marchienne had been officialy charged for intentional disaster. Judge Cristina Palmesino has rejected all the defendant' objections, fixing up the first day of the public hearing on Thursday December 10th, 2009.
July 22th, 2009 (pdf format, 1,9 mb, ITALIAN)
2 men to be tried in Italy over asbestos deaths
7/22/2009, 12:17 p.m. EDT, by ARIEL DAVID - The Associated Press
An Italian judge on Wednesday ordered a Belgian man and a Swiss man to stand trial for alleged negligence leading to hundreds of deaths linked to asbestos plants.
Prosecutors say Stephan Schmidheiny of Switzerland and Jean-Louis de Cartier of Belgium were key shareholders in Eternit, a Swiss construction company. They allege the two were ultimately responsible for the death of some 2,000 workers and residents from asbestos-related diseases.
Most of the cases occurred around an Eternit plant in Casale Monferrato, a town near Turin.
Lawyers and prosecutors said the two are charged with causing an environmental disaster and failing to take proper precautions. Their trial is set to begin Dec. 10 in Turin.
The two men, who deny wrongdoing, could face up to 12 years in prison if convicted.
Eternit closed its Italian operation in 1986, but people continue to become sick as a result of the contamination, prosecutor Raffaele Guariniello said.
He alleged that Eternit spread asbestos fibers over wide areas by allowing powder left over from the production of roof coverings and pipes to spread in the air. They also sold asbestos locally for the construction of roads and houses, Guariniello told The Associated Press.
The company worked to hide the danger from the public, downplaying and limiting information on the well-established link between asbestos and sickness when dealing with unions and the media, he said.
Schmidheiny and de Cartier do not deny that the deaths were caused by asbestos, but claim they did everything they could to limit the risks and inform the public, said Astolfo Di Amato, a lawyer for the Swiss businessman.
Di Amato noted asbestos was mined and used in Casale and other areas since the start of the 20th century and said "it's unthinkable that our client should be found responsible for the mistakes of others."
He said they had not yet decided if Schmidheiny, who lives in Switzerland, would take the stand in the trial. Suspects are not obliged to attend their trials in Italy.
A lawyer for de Cartier did not return calls Wednesday.
Schmidheiny's spokesman, Peter Schuermann, said in an e-mail that Schmidheiny "was never the owner of the Italian factory, but the biggest shareholder of the Swiss Eternit Group for just a few years. Before, Italian owners steered the company and afterward Belgians."
Prosecutors have submitted documents showing managers at the Italian company received orders from the Swiss and Belgian owners, Guariniello said. He said the company had also done nothing to help the contaminated areas, leaving authorities in Casale and other towns saddled with the huge costs of the still ongoing cleanup operation.
"Just a few days ago we took pictures of roads covered in asbestos powder," he said. "They placed an ecological bomb and have done nothing to defuse it."
In addition to the dead, some 800 residents and former workers are still suffering from illnesses including asbestosis and mesothelioma, a cancer of the lung lining, said Bruno Pesce, the head of a victims association. Up to 50 new cases are diagnosed each year in Casale alone.
Some 3,000 victims and family members have joined in a civil lawsuit attached to the criminal proceedings in Turin. Many were in the courtroom Wednesday and cried and applauded after the ruling, Pesce said.
The plaintiffs had not yet decided how much to ask in damages, Pesce said, stressing that the important thing was to try those allegedly responsible.
"It's an historic moment," he said. "We hope that this trial will repay part of the debt that Eternit owes the families of the victims."
Amiante: un patron suisse devant la justice italienne, Swissinfo.ch
L'industriel et milliardaire suisse Stephan Schmidheiny, ancien dirigeant d'une entreprise qui produisait de l'amiante en Italie, devra répondre d'homicide par négligence lors d'un procès qui s'ouvrira le 10 décembre à Turin.
Schmidheiny muss sich in Turin wegen Asbest-Opfern verantworten
Turin - Dem Schweizer Industriellen Stephan Schmidheiny und dem belgischen Baron Jean-Louis de Cartier wird wegen asbestbedingter Todes- und Krankheitsfällen in italienischen Eternit-Fabriken der Prozess gemacht
italian press review
Eternit, a giudizio i due imputati, La Repubblica
Guariniello: "Pagina importante"
A dicembre saranno processati a Torino Stephan Schmidheiny e Jean Loui De Cartier De Marchienne. Sono accusati di disastro doloso e rimozione volontaria di cautele per quasi 3.000 casi tra malati e morti.
Eternit, i due imputati rinviati a giudizio, Il Corriere della sera
A dicembre processati per disastro doloso il magnate Schmidheiny e il barone De Cartier De Marchienne
Eternit: a giudizio i vertici multinazionale amianto, Ansa.it
Chi è rimasto fuori dalla maxi-aula 1 del tribunale di Torino ha capito com'é andata quando ha sentito un breve applauso scrosciare dall'interno: i vertici dell'Eternit erano stati rinviati a giudizio dal gup Cristina Palmesino per disastro doloso e rimozione volontaria di cautele contro gli infortuni.
Eternit, rinviati a giudizio i due imputati, Sky.it
L'inchiesta riguarda i malati e i morti d'amianto nell'azienda. Saranno processati il magnate svizzero Stephan Schmidheiny e il barone belga Jean Loui De Cartier De Marchienne L'accusa è disastro doloso e rimozione volontaria di cautele.
Eternit: tribunale rinvia a giudizio 2 imputati. Udienza a dicembre, ASCA
Il dibattimento per il processo Eternit prendera' il via il prossimo 10 dicembre. Lo ha stabilito il gup Cristina Palmesino che ha rinviato a giudizio, respingendo tutte le eccezioni della difesa degli imputati, Stephan Ernest Schmidheiny e il barone belga Jean Marie Luis Ghislain De Cartier De Marchienne.
Eternit, rinviati a giudizio: il maxiprocesso inizierà il 10 dicembre, Il Monferrato
Il maxiprocesso Eternit si farà: la prima udienza è stata fissata per giovedì 10 dicembre prossimo.
Amianto: rinviati a giudizio i due imputati, Swiss Info
L'imprenditore svizzero Stephan Schmidheiny e il belga Jean Louis De Cartier sono stati rinviati a giudizio nell'udienza preliminare sulla tragedia delle vittime dell'amianto usato negli stabilimenti italiani della Eternit. Il processo si aprirà a Torino il 10 dicembre.
Amianto/ Eternit, rinviati a giudizio i due imputati, Affari Italiani
Con un applauso di 140 cittadini di Casale Monferrato si è chiusa l'udienza preliminare dell'inchiesta sui quasi tremila casi tra malati e morti d'amianto alla Eternit Italia.
Il processo all'Eternit si farà, Il Manifesto
Le vittime, in tutta Europa, alla fine potrebbero essere duecentomila
Quando il gup Cristina Palmesino legge l'ordinanza di rinvio a giudizio per i due imputati dell'inchiesta Eternit, un applauso e un abbraccio sciolgono tutta la tensione accumulata in questi mesi d'attesa.
Amianto/ Eternit,rinviato a giudizio magnate svizzero Schmidheiny, Apcom
Con lui il barone belga De Marchienne, prima udienza 10 dicembre.
La strage per l'amianto continua, La Repubblica
Forse, scaramanzia. La decisione presa ieri dal gup Cristina Palmesino, il rinvio a giudizio dei due magnati dell´amianto Stephan Schmidheiny e Jean Louis De Cartier De Marchienne, è definita "storica" dai più.
July 22th, 2009 (pdf format, 1,9 mb, ITALIAN)
2 men to be tried in Italy over asbestos deaths
7/22/2009, 12:17 p.m. EDT, by ARIEL DAVID - The Associated Press
An Italian judge on Wednesday ordered a Belgian man and a Swiss man to stand trial for alleged negligence leading to hundreds of deaths linked to asbestos plants.
Prosecutors say Stephan Schmidheiny of Switzerland and Jean-Louis de Cartier of Belgium were key shareholders in Eternit, a Swiss construction company. They allege the two were ultimately responsible for the death of some 2,000 workers and residents from asbestos-related diseases.
Most of the cases occurred around an Eternit plant in Casale Monferrato, a town near Turin.
Lawyers and prosecutors said the two are charged with causing an environmental disaster and failing to take proper precautions. Their trial is set to begin Dec. 10 in Turin.
The two men, who deny wrongdoing, could face up to 12 years in prison if convicted.
Eternit closed its Italian operation in 1986, but people continue to become sick as a result of the contamination, prosecutor Raffaele Guariniello said.
He alleged that Eternit spread asbestos fibers over wide areas by allowing powder left over from the production of roof coverings and pipes to spread in the air. They also sold asbestos locally for the construction of roads and houses, Guariniello told The Associated Press.
The company worked to hide the danger from the public, downplaying and limiting information on the well-established link between asbestos and sickness when dealing with unions and the media, he said.
Schmidheiny and de Cartier do not deny that the deaths were caused by asbestos, but claim they did everything they could to limit the risks and inform the public, said Astolfo Di Amato, a lawyer for the Swiss businessman.
Di Amato noted asbestos was mined and used in Casale and other areas since the start of the 20th century and said "it's unthinkable that our client should be found responsible for the mistakes of others."
He said they had not yet decided if Schmidheiny, who lives in Switzerland, would take the stand in the trial. Suspects are not obliged to attend their trials in Italy.
A lawyer for de Cartier did not return calls Wednesday.
Schmidheiny's spokesman, Peter Schuermann, said in an e-mail that Schmidheiny "was never the owner of the Italian factory, but the biggest shareholder of the Swiss Eternit Group for just a few years. Before, Italian owners steered the company and afterward Belgians."
Prosecutors have submitted documents showing managers at the Italian company received orders from the Swiss and Belgian owners, Guariniello said. He said the company had also done nothing to help the contaminated areas, leaving authorities in Casale and other towns saddled with the huge costs of the still ongoing cleanup operation.
"Just a few days ago we took pictures of roads covered in asbestos powder," he said. "They placed an ecological bomb and have done nothing to defuse it."
In addition to the dead, some 800 residents and former workers are still suffering from illnesses including asbestosis and mesothelioma, a cancer of the lung lining, said Bruno Pesce, the head of a victims association. Up to 50 new cases are diagnosed each year in Casale alone.
Some 3,000 victims and family members have joined in a civil lawsuit attached to the criminal proceedings in Turin. Many were in the courtroom Wednesday and cried and applauded after the ruling, Pesce said.
The plaintiffs had not yet decided how much to ask in damages, Pesce said, stressing that the important thing was to try those allegedly responsible.
"It's an historic moment," he said. "We hope that this trial will repay part of the debt that Eternit owes the families of the victims."
Amiante: un patron suisse devant la justice italienne, Swissinfo.ch
L'industriel et milliardaire suisse Stephan Schmidheiny, ancien dirigeant d'une entreprise qui produisait de l'amiante en Italie, devra répondre d'homicide par négligence lors d'un procès qui s'ouvrira le 10 décembre à Turin.
Schmidheiny muss sich in Turin wegen Asbest-Opfern verantworten
Turin - Dem Schweizer Industriellen Stephan Schmidheiny und dem belgischen Baron Jean-Louis de Cartier wird wegen asbestbedingter Todes- und Krankheitsfällen in italienischen Eternit-Fabriken der Prozess gemacht
italian press review
Eternit, a giudizio i due imputati, La Repubblica
Guariniello: "Pagina importante"
A dicembre saranno processati a Torino Stephan Schmidheiny e Jean Loui De Cartier De Marchienne. Sono accusati di disastro doloso e rimozione volontaria di cautele per quasi 3.000 casi tra malati e morti.
Eternit, i due imputati rinviati a giudizio, Il Corriere della sera
A dicembre processati per disastro doloso il magnate Schmidheiny e il barone De Cartier De Marchienne
Eternit: a giudizio i vertici multinazionale amianto, Ansa.it
Chi è rimasto fuori dalla maxi-aula 1 del tribunale di Torino ha capito com'é andata quando ha sentito un breve applauso scrosciare dall'interno: i vertici dell'Eternit erano stati rinviati a giudizio dal gup Cristina Palmesino per disastro doloso e rimozione volontaria di cautele contro gli infortuni.
Eternit, rinviati a giudizio i due imputati, Sky.it
L'inchiesta riguarda i malati e i morti d'amianto nell'azienda. Saranno processati il magnate svizzero Stephan Schmidheiny e il barone belga Jean Loui De Cartier De Marchienne L'accusa è disastro doloso e rimozione volontaria di cautele.
Eternit: tribunale rinvia a giudizio 2 imputati. Udienza a dicembre, ASCA
Il dibattimento per il processo Eternit prendera' il via il prossimo 10 dicembre. Lo ha stabilito il gup Cristina Palmesino che ha rinviato a giudizio, respingendo tutte le eccezioni della difesa degli imputati, Stephan Ernest Schmidheiny e il barone belga Jean Marie Luis Ghislain De Cartier De Marchienne.
Eternit, rinviati a giudizio: il maxiprocesso inizierà il 10 dicembre, Il Monferrato
Il maxiprocesso Eternit si farà: la prima udienza è stata fissata per giovedì 10 dicembre prossimo.
Amianto: rinviati a giudizio i due imputati, Swiss Info
L'imprenditore svizzero Stephan Schmidheiny e il belga Jean Louis De Cartier sono stati rinviati a giudizio nell'udienza preliminare sulla tragedia delle vittime dell'amianto usato negli stabilimenti italiani della Eternit. Il processo si aprirà a Torino il 10 dicembre.
Amianto/ Eternit, rinviati a giudizio i due imputati, Affari Italiani
Con un applauso di 140 cittadini di Casale Monferrato si è chiusa l'udienza preliminare dell'inchiesta sui quasi tremila casi tra malati e morti d'amianto alla Eternit Italia.
Il processo all'Eternit si farà, Il Manifesto
Le vittime, in tutta Europa, alla fine potrebbero essere duecentomila
Quando il gup Cristina Palmesino legge l'ordinanza di rinvio a giudizio per i due imputati dell'inchiesta Eternit, un applauso e un abbraccio sciolgono tutta la tensione accumulata in questi mesi d'attesa.
Amianto/ Eternit,rinviato a giudizio magnate svizzero Schmidheiny, Apcom
Con lui il barone belga De Marchienne, prima udienza 10 dicembre.
La strage per l'amianto continua, La Repubblica
Forse, scaramanzia. La decisione presa ieri dal gup Cristina Palmesino, il rinvio a giudizio dei due magnati dell´amianto Stephan Schmidheiny e Jean Louis De Cartier De Marchienne, è definita "storica" dai più.
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Comment by Annie Thébaud-Mony on August 7, 2009 at 9:53 -
Carissimos amici,
È con una molto grande gioia che ho appreso l'apertura del processo di Torino. Mi congratulo con voi per questa formidabile vittoria. Qualunque sia la decisione dei giudici, l'impunità dei responsabile di questo disastro planetario è rotta. È la vostra determinazione in un combattimento dei tanti anni di lotta che porta oggi i suoi frutti. Henri Pezerat che ha lottato tanto per una tale azione in giustizia sarebbe il primo a manifestarvi la sua gioia e la sua solidarietà. Ban Asbestos France sarà rappresentata certamente il 10 dicembre.
Fraterni saluti
Chers amis
C'est avec une très grande joie que j'ai appris l'ouverture du procès de Turin. je vous félicite pour cette formidable victoire. Quelle que soit l'issue du jugement,l'impunité des responsables de ce désastre planétaire est brisée. C'est votre détermination dans un combat de tant d'années de lutte qui porte aujourd'hui ses fruits. Henri Pezerat, qui a tant lutté pour une telle action en justice serait le premier à vous témoigner sa joie et sa solidarité. Ban Asbestos France sera bien sûr représentée le 10 décembre.
Fraternelles salutations
Annie
Dear friends
We are very happy to learn the opening of the Eternit Trial in Turin. I congratulate you on this tremendous victory. Whatever will be the sentence, the impunity of those in charge of this global disaster is broken. It is your determination in a fight of so many years which carries its fruits today. Henri Pezerat, who so much fought for such an action in justice would be the first one to share you his enjoyment and his solidarity. For sure, Ban Asbestos France will be represented on December 10th.
Warm regards
Annie
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A French résumé of our field report from the courtroom is weekly published on the Andeva website
Download the pdf version of the ANDEVA bulletin n°37 dedicated to the ETERNIT TRIAL of Turin, ENGLISH version or FRENCH version
listen to the sentence of 2012
Feb 13th, 2012. English translation of 1st instance sentence, short version (6')
The verdict in english (first 8 pages), pdf format
Full sentence: video file for downloading (1,5 GB)
download the book
Eternit and the Great Asbestos Trial Direct Download (5.19MB) in pdf or individual sections in a web browser on IBAS webpage.
The film Dust, the great asbestos trial is a feature documentary on the trial and the state of the art of asbestos ban in the world. Read more about it.
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