World · Europe · 2 hrs ago
Italy orders new appeal in Eternit asbestos deaths case
Italy’s highest court has ordered a new appeal trial for Stephan Schmidheiny, a Swiss businessman who once managed an Eternit plant in Casale Monferrato.
He is accused of aggravated manslaughter over asbestos-related deaths, and an earlier appeal court had sentenced him to nine years and six months.
The Supreme Court did not uphold that sentence, and the new trial will concern about 60 victims.
Charges involving 25 victims are time-barred, while proceedings over other victims had already ended in acquittals or because of time limits.
The plant operated from 1976 to 1986, and asbestos exposure in the area has been linked to deaths among workers and local residents.
Families of victims said the decision was disappointing and feared more cases could become time-barred.
A new appeal hearing is now needed before the case can move forward.
Italy’s Supreme Court has ordered a new appeal trial for Swiss businessman Stephan Schmidheiny over asbestos-related deaths at the Eternit plant in Casale Monferrato.
The ruling overturns a Turin court’s sentence of nine years and six months in prison for deaths in 91 cases.
The court said charges relating to 25 other victims were time-barred; the new trial concerns around 60 people.
The court did not accept prosecutors’ request to uphold the sentence.
Relatives of asbestos victims and a former Eternit worker said the decision was unjust and could allow more cases to become time-barred.
- Who
- Stephan Schmidheiny, a Swiss businessman and former manager of the Eternit plant.
- What
- Italy’s Supreme Court ordered a new appeal trial over asbestos-related deaths, overturning a sentence of nine years and six months.
- When
- 10 November 2026.
- Where
- The case concerns the Eternit plant in Casale Monferrato, in Italy’s Piedmont region.
- Why
- The Supreme Court ordered a new appeal trial; its written reasoning was not yet available in the reports.
Prosecutors
Schmidheiny’s defence
Sentence
Prosecutors
Prosecutors asked the Supreme Court to uphold the nine-year-and-six-month sentence.
Schmidheiny’s defence
Schmidheiny’s defence appealed the sentence and has said it will continue to seek an acquittal.
Responsibility
Prosecutors
Prosecutors argued that the Turin appeal judgment was well reasoned and protected the right to life.
Schmidheiny’s defence
The defence argued that a direct causal link and Schmidheiny’s personal responsibility in individual cases had not been proved.
The Turin prosecutor’s office launched a major investigation into Eternit.
An earlier Eternit case ended with previous convictions overturned because of the statute of limitations.
A court in Novara sentenced Schmidheiny to 12 years in the Casale Monferrato case.
The Turin appeal court sentenced him to nine years and six months.
The translated Turin judgment was filed.
Schmidheiny’s lawyers appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court overturned the sentence, ordered a new appeal trial for around 60 victims and declared charges relating to 25 others time-barred.
- Defendant
- Stephan Schmidheiny
- Plant
- Eternit factory in Casale Monferrato, Piedmont
- Turin sentence
- 9 years and 6 months in prison
- Cases in the overturned sentence
- 91 deaths
- New appeal trial
- Around 60 victims
- Time-barred cases
- 25 victims
5 sources
Drittes Verfahren – Italienisches Gericht hebt Eternit-Urteil gegen Schmidheiny auf
Eternit, la Cassazione annulla di nuovo la condanna a Schmidheiny per i morti da amianto. Le vittime: “È una vera ingiustizia”
Asbest-Opfer: Berufungsprozess im Fall Eternit neu aufgerollt
Eternit, disposto nuovo processo di appello per Schmidheiny
Italienisches Gericht hebt ein Eternit-Urteil gegen Schmidheiny auf
What people are saying
It is a justice that slips away, a real injustice. More time will pass and other cases will become time-barred.
The judgment of the Turin Court of Assizes of Appeal is well reasoned and provides procedural protection for the right to life.
Great disappointment, especially for the injured parties and also for me. Our frustration is that once again we have been unable to bring justice to this tragedy.
In Casale Monferrato, people continue to die. Almost 50 people a year. So far there have been 3,000 victims.