“I hate Italians and I am the only one to suffer from it. I’m not going to see an Italian prison from the inside“. These are Stephan’s words Schmidheiny, the Swiss magnate who owns the Eternit, considered by the magistrates responsible for the 392 cases of asbestos deaths that occurred in Casale Monferrato, in the province of Alessandria. Today the judge of the preliminary hearing (gup) of Vercelli will decide whether to bring the entrepreneur to trial for voluntary murder. Schmidheiny is the only defendant in the Eternit bis trial.
The tycoon gave an interview to the Swiss newspaper Nzz am Sonntag in which he stated that his behavior will not be found guilty and will be acquitted. And he defined it as “crazy“His procedural involvement because for decades he had to endure a considerable emotional charge. He called himself a “sensitive” person and said he took care of his state of health so as not to be overwhelmed by the continuous judicial attacks. Then he reiterated to try “I hate Italians” but also “compassion“As the citizens themselves are forced to live”in this failed state“.
As reported The printSchmidheiny had already been accused by the Turin prosecutor’s office in the Eternit one maxiprocess. After two convictions for intentional environmental disaster, he then ended up with the prescription sanctioned by the Court of Cassation in 2014. Then the same prosecutor of Turin had indicted him on charges of intentional murder of over 400 people but subsequently the gup had reconverted the crime from intentional manslaughter. This decision resulted in an unpacking of the initial dossier into 4 parts destined to different powers of attorney for territorial jurisdiction. In the Piedmontese capital remained the vein for two Cavagnolo deaths in which Schmidheiny he has already been sentenced to 4 years. The prosecutor of Naples dealt with the 8 deaths of Bagnoli, that of Reggio Emilia with some deaths of Rubiera and that of Vercelli of the 392 victims of Casalesi. In this regard, the public prosecutor has highlighted that deaths from mesothelioma, which is cancer caused by asbestos, are growing year by year.
Today, therefore, the Vercelli gup will decide whether to indict the Swiss tycoon for arson murder as requested by the prosecutors, if the crime will be requalified in negligence or if the entrepreneur will be acquitted as requested by the defense lawyers. Schmidheiny’s lawyers pointed out that it is an injustice to repeat a trial of a person for the same facts.
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