Italy's top court orders new appeal for Schmidheiny in Eternit asbestos case

The Cassation ruling

On Tuesday, 10 November 2026, the Fourth Criminal Section of Italy's Court of Cassation in Rome ruled in the Eternit bis case against Swiss businessman Stephan Schmidheiny, who is charged with aggravated manslaughter over asbestos deaths linked to the Eternit plant in Casale Monferrato. The judges annulled the appeal ruling for about 60 harmed parties and sent those cases back for a new appeal trial before a different section of the Turin Court of Appeal. For another 25 victims, the court declared the charges time-barred. The prosecutor general had asked the court to declare the defence appeal inadmissible and to uphold the sentence of 9 years and 6 months, a request the court did not accept.

Charges and earlier rulings

Schmidheiny, who ran the Casale plant from 1976 to 1986, is accused of causing the deaths of 91 people. The first-instance trial had listed 392 victims, a figure that shrank through time-bars and some acquittals at other stages of the case. The first-instance court sentenced him to 12 years, while the Turin appeal court in April 2025 imposed 9 years and 6 months.

First-instance charges392

Current charges against Schmidheiny91

First-instance charges

392 people

Current charges against Schmidheiny

91 people

Data from the article text

In February 2026 the Cassation had already ordered a new appeal because the appeal verdict had not been translated into German. Earlier, the court annulled convictions tied to the Eternit plants at Cavagnolo (May 2024 and March 2025) and Naples (February 2025), because individual causation had not been shown. Asbestos production in Italy was banned in 1992, and its illnesses often appear decades after exposure.

Defence and causation

Schmidheiny's spokesperson, Lisa Meyerhans, said the conviction for the 91 deaths and the 9-year-6-month sentence had been set aside. The defence had argued that the Turin ruling did not prove, case by case, that the asbestos exposure attributed to Schmidheiny caused or accelerated each illness. Meyerhans said the Turin court had relied on a laboratory study of 26 genetically modified mice to show faster disease progression, a study the defence says cannot replace individual proof. Written reasons are expected in the coming weeks, and the defence will seek acquittal on the merits at the new trial. According to the spokesperson, no conviction of Schmidheiny by a lower court has survived Cassation since the first indictment in 2009. Lawyer Giacomo Mattalia added that two further worker cases became time-barred during the proceedings, and the appeal on them was rejected for civil purposes only.

Reactions in Casale Monferrato

A delegation of families from Casale Monferrato travelled to Rome and held a protest outside the Cassation with a banner reading 'Giustizia-Ricerca-Bonifiche'. Nicola Pondrano, a former Eternit worker who heads the Afeva association of victims' families, reacted outside the court.

“It is a justice that slips away, a real injustice. More time will pass and other cases will be time-barred.”

Giacomo Mattalia, the lawyer for the civil parties, described the ruling as a deep disappointment for the injured families.

“Our frustration is that we are once again unable to deliver justice for this tragedy.”

Mayor Emanuele Capra, who attended the hearing wearing the tricolour sash, said the community deserved recognition from Italian justice.

“We hope the Casale community receives what it deserves from Italian justice, recognition of a responsibility on the part of the company's ownership.”

Federico Riboldi, a former Casale mayor who is now the Piedmont regional health assessor, said the region would keep funding Rccs research toward a cure for people who fall ill in future.