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Asbestos trial in Italy: thousands dead and a Swiss scapegoat
It is the worst industrial catastrophe in history: around 100,000 people die every year from asbestos-related diseases. Italy has found a culprit for this: the former Swiss Eternit owner Stephan Schmidheiny.
The Eternit Group produced asbestos cement.
Photo: Marco Bertorello/AFP
The last verdict against Schmidheiny was a good two weeks ago: a Novara jury sentenced the Swiss entrepreneur and philanthropist to 12 years in prison for the negligent killing of around 150 former workers and residents of the former Eternit factory in the small Piedmont town of Casale Monferrato.