"Eternit case put to Constitutional Court", 24 Jul 2015

The bitter and long-running Eternit case into the asbestos poisoning deaths of 258 people was referred Friday to Italy's Constitutional Court to rule on whether the former company owner could be tried a second time. In the case's latest twist, a preliminary court judge has asked for a ruling on the constitutionality of a second trial against Swiss tycoon Stephan Schmidheiny...Schmidheiny had been charged with failing to provide adequate safety measures at four Eternit cement plants in Italy, charges he has denied. In 2012, Schmidheiny was found guilty of negligence..., a ruling applauded by families of the victims. However, they were stunned last November when Italy's highest appeals body overturned the 18-year sentence against Schmidheiny, saying the case had timed out.