A blog post by Asbestos Victims Families Casale was featured

Students of Casale Monferrato show placards reading, in Italian, “Eternit: how many time will we be killed again?” during a protest in Casale Monferrato, northern Italy, recently. Massimo Pinca — The Associated PressA Swiss billionaire who holds a Yale honorary degree has had his conviction overturned in connection with the asbestos-related deaths of 2,000 people in northern Italy, according to Forbes.com.Mayors of 35 towns and more than 50 Yale graduateshad appealed to Yale President Peter Salovey to strip Stephan Ernst Schmidheiny of an honorary degree he received in 1996 because of his alleged responsibility for the deaths from mesothelioma, lung cancer and other diseases.The deaths allegedly were related to asbestos from plants owned by Schmidheiny’s former company, Eternit AG. He had been sentenced to 18 years in prison but is not in custody. Schmidheiny has denied the charges.Premier Matteo Renzi was among the Italian populace outraged by the court’s decision that the statute of limitations had run out on the case.“It’s not possible that for some cases the demand for justice runs out because there are some wounds that don’t know time limits,” Renzi said.Forbes reported that the Italian supreme court overturned his conviction last week. His net worth is $3.3 billion, according to Forbes.In a statement, the court said the charge in question was that of environmental disaster, not manslaughter, and it therefore couldn’t ignore the expiration of the statute of limitations, which started ticking in 1986 when Eternit closed its four Italian plants.The statement appeared to be a reference to a new investigation opened by Prosecutor Raffaele Guarinello alleging manslaughter. Guarinello was quoted by Italian media as urging relatives of the victims not to lose faith in Italian justice.A spokesman for Schmidheiny was quoted as urging the Italian government to “protect” him from any more “unjustified” charges, noting Schmidheiny never had an operative role in the company and never received any profit from his shares in it.The Aug. 1 letter had stated, “The town of Casale Monferrato and 34 municipalities … join in asking you to rescind the honorary degree awarded to Mr. Stephan Schmidheiny in 1996.” It was signed by Casale Monferrato Mayor Concetta Palazzetti and 34 other mayors and officials.Christopher Meisenkothen, a New Haven lawyer who represents the Italian asbestos victims and their families, said that, according to the chief prosecutor, the decision was overturned as a matter of law, but that “he is still guilty of all the things he was accused of.”He quoted Francesco Mauro Iacovielli, chief prosecutor at the Court of Cassation, as saying, “I think the defendant is guilty of all the acts (behavior) as charged. To be (honest) ... the statute of limitations fails to answer the need for justice.”The 35 towns involved a total 71,000 residents. Casale Monferrato is east of Turin in northern Italy’s Piedmont region.Schmidheiny has refused the court’s order to pay for damages.Palazzetti’s letter, written in March, stated, “In the meantime, in our town (pop. 35,000), like others, the bell tolls more and more frequently to announce mesothelioma deaths, now about one a week in our town alone, (totalling) over 2,000 victims, both workers and members of the community, dying of asbestos related diseases.“We consider it unacceptable that a criminal such as he is, a man who has shown no respect for human life, should be allowed to continue to bear the sign of your appreciation and honor.”The citation for Schmidheiny’s honorary doctorate stated that he was “considered one of the world’s most environmentally conscious business leaders.”A Yale spokesman said the university stood by a previous statement: “Yale awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree to Stephan Schmidheiny for his advocacy of sustainable economic growth and development. The decision to award this degree was made by a committee that considered Mr. Schmidheiny’s full record as a businessman, philanthropist and environmentalist.“Yale does not currently believe that ongoing legal proceedings in Italy provide cause to reconsider the judgment made by the committee in 1996. The university has never revoked an honorary degree, and any decision to do so would have to be made by the Yale Corporation, which is the body that confers degrees. Yale has revoked an academic degree previously awarded only when there has been academic or other fraud.”http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20141124/billionaire-with-honorary-yale-degree-has-conviction-overturned-in-asbestos-deaths-caseSee More