Another shocking ruling in the context of the civil trials for the deaths in the L'Aquila earthquake of 6 April 2009: the L'Aquila Court of Appeal confirmed the first instance ruling of 2022 which had cleared the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of any responsibility for the death of seven students in various collapses in the earthquake about 15 years ago. The families of the young victims - reports the Abruzzo newspaper Il Centro - not only will not have any compensation for having engaged in "incautious conduct", but will also have to pay the legal costs, almost 14 thousand euros.
According to the judges, the causes of the students' deaths are to be found in the decisions of the boys and not, as hypothesized at first instance, in those of the Major Risks Commission which met in L'Aquila on 31 March 2009, five days before the tragic earthquake, sending reassuring messages.
On the matter, the L'Aquila Court had first sentenced the seven scientists who had participated in the meeting to six years, and then acquitted them on appeal with the exception of Bernardo De Bernardinis, the then deputy head of Civil Protection, whose two-year sentence was also confirmed in the Supreme Court.
De Bernardinis, who had chaired the meeting in place of the then head of the national civil protection, Guido Bertolaso, had sent, immediately after the meeting, reassuring messages which would have induced the people of L'Aquila not to take the traditional measures, including that of leaving house after an earthquake.
Again according to the judges of second instance there would be no certain evidence of the reassurances in relation to the conduct of the young people, therefore the so-called "causal link" to attribute civil liability would be missing.
An appeal to the Supreme Court is likely against the ruling of the Court of Appeal of L'Aquila.
(Unioneonline)
