Six Italian scientists sentenced to 6 years for underestimating quake damage
23 Oct 2012 6:39 AM IST
Six Italian scientists and a government official were found guilty on Monday of multiple manslaughter for underestimating the risks of a killer earthquake in L’Aquila in 2009.
They were sentenced to six years in jail in a watershed ruling in a case that has provoked outrage in the international science community.
The experts were also ordered to pay more than € 9 million in damages to survivors and inhabitants. Under the Italian justice system, the seven will remain free men until they have exhausted two chances to appeal the verdict.
Some commentators had warned that any convictions would dissuade other experts from sharing their expertise for fear of legal retribution.
Prosecutor Fabio Picuti had asked for jail sentences of four years for each defendant for failing to alert the population of the walled medieval town of L’Aquila to the risks, days before the 6.3-magnitude quake killed 309 people.
All seven were members of the Major Risks Committee which met in the central Italian town on 31 March 2009 – six days before the quake devastated the region, tearing down houses and churches and leaving thousands homeless.
‘This is a historic sentence, above all for the victims,’ said lawyer Wania della Vigna, who represents 11 plaintiffs, including the family of an Israeli student who died when a student residence collapsed on top of him.
‘It also marks a step forward for the justice system and I hope it will lead to change, not only in Italy but across the world,’ she said.
The bright blue, classroom-sized temporary tribunal in L’Aquila – built on an industrial estate after the town’s historic court was flattened in the quake – was packed with lawyers, advisers and international media for the verdict.
Four of the defendants were in court, as well as a small group of survivors.
Aldo Scimia, whose mother was killed, teared up as the verdict was read out.
‘We cannot call this a victory. It’s a tragedy, whatever way you look at it, it won’t bring our loved ones back,’ he said.
‘I continue to call this a massacre at the hand of the state, but at least now we hope that our children may live safer lives,’ he added.
Prosecutor Picuti had slammed the experts for providing ‘an incomplete, inept, unsuitable and criminally mistaken’ analysis, which reassured locals and led many to stay indoors when the first tremors hit.
The government committee met after a series of small tremors in the preceding weeks had sown panic among local inhabitants – particularly after a resident began making worrying unofficial earthquake predictions.
Italy’s top seismologists were called to evaluate the situation and the then-vice-director of the Civil Protection agency, Bernardo De Bernardinis, gave press interviews saying the seismic activity in L’Aquila posed ‘no danger’.
They were sentenced to six years in jail in a watershed ruling in a case that has provoked outrage in the international science community.
The experts were also ordered to pay more than € 9 million in damages to survivors and inhabitants. Under the Italian justice system, the seven will remain free men until they have exhausted two chances to appeal the verdict.
Some commentators had warned that any convictions would dissuade other experts from sharing their expertise for fear of legal retribution.
Prosecutor Fabio Picuti had asked for jail sentences of four years for each defendant for failing to alert the population of the walled medieval town of L’Aquila to the risks, days before the 6.3-magnitude quake killed 309 people.
All seven were members of the Major Risks Committee which met in the central Italian town on 31 March 2009 – six days before the quake devastated the region, tearing down houses and churches and leaving thousands homeless.
‘This is a historic sentence, above all for the victims,’ said lawyer Wania della Vigna, who represents 11 plaintiffs, including the family of an Israeli student who died when a student residence collapsed on top of him.
‘It also marks a step forward for the justice system and I hope it will lead to change, not only in Italy but across the world,’ she said.
The bright blue, classroom-sized temporary tribunal in L’Aquila – built on an industrial estate after the town’s historic court was flattened in the quake – was packed with lawyers, advisers and international media for the verdict.
Four of the defendants were in court, as well as a small group of survivors.
Aldo Scimia, whose mother was killed, teared up as the verdict was read out.
‘We cannot call this a victory. It’s a tragedy, whatever way you look at it, it won’t bring our loved ones back,’ he said.
‘I continue to call this a massacre at the hand of the state, but at least now we hope that our children may live safer lives,’ he added.
Prosecutor Picuti had slammed the experts for providing ‘an incomplete, inept, unsuitable and criminally mistaken’ analysis, which reassured locals and led many to stay indoors when the first tremors hit.
The government committee met after a series of small tremors in the preceding weeks had sown panic among local inhabitants – particularly after a resident began making worrying unofficial earthquake predictions.
Italy’s top seismologists were called to evaluate the situation and the then-vice-director of the Civil Protection agency, Bernardo De Bernardinis, gave press interviews saying the seismic activity in L’Aquila posed ‘no danger’.
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