The supreme Court of Cassation on Tuesday upheld the acquittals of all the defendants in a trial over the alleged asbestos-related deaths of workers at Olivetti's Ivrea plant near the northern Italian city.
The ruling confirmed a lower appeals court's acquittals for
former Olivetti chief Carlo De Benedetti and his brother Franco,
who were handed jail terms of five years, two months for
manslaughter and personal injury at a first instance trial.
The case regards the deaths of 12 workers, who did jobs
ranging from assembling typewriters and machine maintenance to
painting.
They died after their retirements between 2003 and early
2013, had been employed between the 1960s and 1990s in areas of
the plant that were allegedly contaminated with asbestos fibers.
Also cleared, again, was ex-minister Corrado Passera, who had
been handed a term of one year, 11 months at the first trial, a
ruling that was overturned on first appeal.
Passera served as Italy's transport and industry minister
from 2011 to 2013 in the emergency technocrat government of
ex-premier Mario Monti.
The supreme court of appeal rejected a plea from the lower
appeals court prosecutor.
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