Maxi Eternit trial, Court of Cassation annuls Court of Appeal ruling on translation problem
The ermines ruled that the Piedmontese judges must translate the sentence into a language known to the defendant (in this case German)
The Court of Cassation overturned the sentence by which the Turin Court of Appeal, on 17 April 2025, sentenced Swiss businessman Stephan Schmidheiny to nine years and six months' imprisonment for the deaths caused by asbestos processed by Eternit in Casale Monferrato (Alessandria).
The ermines ruled that the Piedmontese judges should translate the sentence into a language known to the defendant (in this case German). The trial is one of those stemming from the maxi-investigation on Eternit launched by the Turin public prosecutor's office in 2004.
In the former, environmental disaster was charged, but in 2015 the crime was declared time-barred by the Supreme Court.
In this line, Schmidheiny was found guilty, on appeal, of manslaughter, against a plea of murder with intent.
The defendant is assisted by lawyer Astolfo Di Amato, who may appeal again to the Court of Cassation on the merits.
