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21 Rotterdam Convention Conference of the Parties (COP6): Day 1 (May 8, 2013)

From Italy representatives came from Casale Monferrato and Turin; they included victims, activists and trade unionists. Other groups represented included the UK Forum of Asbestos Victims Support Groups, the German Association of Asbestos Victims, the Brazilian Association of the Asbestos-Exposed, and Ban Asbestos Japan.

22 Rotterdam Convention 2013: Dossier of Daily Reports (May 21, 2013)

From Italy representatives came from Casale Monferrato and Turin; they included victims, activists and trade unionists. Other groups represented included the UK Forum of Asbestos Victims Support Groups, the German Association of Asbestos Victims, the Brazilian Association of the Asbestos-Exposed, and Ban Asbestos Japan.

23 Belgium's Asbestos Killing Fields (May 23, 2013)

Marchienne was one of two former Eternit directors found guilty by a Turin court for contributing to the asbestos epidemic which killed thousands of Italians. Marchienne and Swiss billionaire Stephan Schmidheiny were convicted of causing wilful permanent environmental disaster and failing to comply with safety rules in a 2012 landmark ruling.

24 LKA Blog (April 9, 2013)

Hundreds of people will be at the Turin courthouse today to bear witness to the judicial effort to apportion blame for the deaths of their loved ones. People like Romana Blasotti Pavesi who lost her husband Mario, her sister, her cousin, her nephew and her daughter Rosa to asbestos cancer will make the journey from Casale Monferrato to Turin in the early morning to ensure her place in the courtroom.

Love which is true, love which does not alter with time or age, will be in the Turin courtroom today as Romana and her colleagues continue their 30-year fight for justice. Our hearts are with them in this battle.

The IBAS monograph Eternit & The Great Asbestos Trial, which was published on the day the decision was announced in Turin, is now available in English, Portuguese, Thai and Japanese.

25 Launch of Italian Asbestos Plan (April 10, 2013)

Experts from the University of Alexandria and the University of Turin are collaborating on plans to create an organizational model to provide a continuum of care for the injured. Research on risk assessment, health surveillance, genetic susceptibility and the efficacy of biomarkers is also being progressed.

In his comments to the meeting Giorgio Demezzi, Mayor of Casale Monferrato, pressed the Ministers on funding for municipal removal programs. The national dialogue on asbestos has, he said, created a lot of expectations; without the money to action decontamination work and legislation to allow this money to be spent, no improvements are possible.5 Demezzi also commented on the fact that none of the interim payments awarded by the Turin Court have been paid by defendants Stephan Schmidheiny or Louis de Cartier de Marchienne.

26 Eternit and the Great Asbestos Trial: Appeal Proceedings (February 1, 2013)

Further hearings will commence on February 14, 2013 in the case which has become known as the “Great Asbestos Trial.” Hundreds of pages of legal argument submitted to the Turin Court challenge first degree guilty verdicts handed down one year ago by a three-judge panel to defendants Stephan Schmidheiny (Switzerland) and Baron Louis de Cartier (Belgium).1 Neither one of the former asbestos executives, both of whom were convicted for their part in the causation of an Italian asbestos disaster, has complied with court orders to pay compensation to thousands of victims, associations, municipal authorities and civic bodies.

In an article published on January 26, 2013 in La Stampa de Cartier's lawyers Carlo Enrico Paliero and Cesare Zaccone called the €89 million fine “intolerable”.2 There is, de Cartier's lawyers say, no proof of any causal link between the incidence of occupational asbestos disease and their client's actions. Schmidheiney's lawyers are trying to overturn the verdict with arguments based on lack of jurisdiction and unconstitutionality; they allege that the charges of wilful negligence and omission of safety measures should have been heard by the Court of Assizes. Should these arguments find favour with the Turin Court, the 2012 verdict could be overturned and the proceedings would have to be reinvestigated, reconsidered and reheard by the other Court.

The lack of progress in this case has been frustrating for victims and campaigners backing their calls for justice. Attempts to request that the Swiss and Belgian authorities force the defendants to comply with the Italian court's ruling fell at the first hurdle; the cost of translating the judicial proceedings into the required languages is estimated at €70,000. Without this documentation, nothing can be done to access Schmidheiny's or de Cartier's assets. AFeVA, the association representing many of the claimants from Casale Monferrato, has urged the Italian Compensation Agency (Inail) to undertake the translation as part of the national asbestos plan which is being developed by a consortium of government groups, civil society bodies and professional experts. It is anticipated that as with the previous court hearings, the Turin Court will be crowded with claimants, family members and supporters; French asbestos victims and campaigning groups have confirmed their intention to attend the appeal proceedings.

27 Great Asbestos Trial: Post-Verdict Developments (July 17, 2012)

The landmark judgment handed down on February 13, 2012 by the Turin Criminal Court which convicted asbestos defendants Stephan Schmidheiny and Baron Louis de Cartier de Marchienne of causing wilful permanent environmental disaster and failing to comply with safety rules continues to reverberate in Italy and abroad.1 On May 14, 2012, the “Motivazioni” (English translation: the motivations of reasons) for the verdict was announced, as a result of which more details have become available; the trial judges acknowledged a total of 6,392 injured parties and ordered financial penalties of €5 billion, of which €92m of interim payments are already overdue. On July 16, 2012, it was reported that Cesare Zaccone, a member of Schmidheiny's legal team, has submitted a 500-page appeal to the Turin Court, which looks to overturn the verdict on grounds of constitutionality, jurisdiction and statute of limitations.2

Two weeks earlier (June 28), the Turin Public Prosecutor who pioneered this case – Raffaele Guariniello – announced that he had appealed the judgment. Considering the crimes committed, 16 years in jail was an insufficient punishment. Guariniello is calling for the sentences to be increased to 20 years for both defendants.

An epidemiological survey ordered by Guaraniello regarding mortality from asbestos-related disease amongst the workforce at an asbestos factory in Grugliasco, Turin has uncovered an asbestos death rate of 29%: out of 824 fatalities, 237 were due to asbestos-related diseases. Investigations are ongoing regarding the cause of death of the 2,542 workers who were employed at this factory during the 20th century.

Clarification of Turin Judgment. February 22, 2012.

http://ibasecretariat.org/lka-clarification-turin-judgment.php

28 Mesothelioma: Personal Tragedy, Global Disaster (July 13, 2012)

The criminal court in Turin agrees with me. In February 2012, a three judge-panel, headed by Giuseppe Casalbore, found former asbestos executives guilty for their part in the asbestos-related deaths of thousands of Italians who worked in the asbestos-cement factories of the Eternit company or who breathed the air contaminated by Eternit's plants in Casale Monferrato and other Italian towns.

Two weeks ago (June 28), the Turin Public Prosecutor who pioneered this case – Raffaele Guariniello – announced that he had appealed the judgment. Considering the crimes committed, 16 years in jail was an insufficient punishment. Guariniello is calling for the sentences to be increased to 20 years for both defendants.

The significance of the Turin court's verdict cannot be overstated not only for people in Italy but for asbestos victims in every country where the ruthless pursuit of profit resulted in short-cuts being taken and deadly practices being sanctioned. With modern technology the news of the landmark February 13th judgment spread worldwide in minutes. Coverage in Italy was massive and national newspapers ran front page stories about the verdict with TV reports on many channels. In Canada, speculation was rife about the implications of this trial for asbestos propagandists and executives in Quebec. In France, attempts to replicate the Turin process are being made but success has yet to be achieved, while in Brazil, another country which has experienced massive damage at the hands of Eternit, prosecutors regard the 128-page Italian verdict as a precedent to be used in Brazilian asbestos lawsuits.

29 The Future We Want is Asbestos-Free (July 7, 2012)

outrage at the possibility that Stephen Schmidheiny, a former Eternit executive convicted by a Turin Court for his role in the asbestos deaths of thousands of Italians, might participate in the Rio+20 Summit;

30 Eternit's "Annus Horribilis" (June 7, 2012)

Articles on the IBAS website document the growing global support not only for banning asbestos but also for bringing asbestos profiteers to justice for the crimes they have committed. The guilty verdict handed down by the Turin Court in February 2012 against two former Eternit executives is regarded as a legal precedent for judicial authorities in some jurisdictions and as an inspiration for campaigners around the world, all of whom are determined to see justice achieved for those whose lives have been sacrificed to asbestos.