The Turin Court of Appeal has sentenced Stephan Schmidheiny, Swiss tycoon and former owner of Eternit, to 9 years and 6 months in prison as part of the Eternit bis trial. The businessman was accused of the deaths of 392 people, including workers and citizens of Casale Monferrato, who were exposed to asbestos. The judges found the defendant guilty of manslaughter, confirming the approach of the first instance ruling, which had ruled out the hypothesis of manslaughter with possible intent, advanced instead by the Attorney General's Office. The court also declared 199 positions time-barred and acquitted Schmidheiny of 46 others for lack of causal link between death and exposure to asbestos. During the trial, the defense - represented by attorneys Astolfo Di Amato and Guido Carlo Alleva - argued that “the criminal trial is not the proper tool to address the issue of asbestos”, calling for scientific rigor in the recognition of mesothelioma and the direct link between exposure and the defendant's responsibility. The ruling comes after years of court battles and represents a new chapter in the long Eternit affair, which has deeply scarred the community of Casale Monferrato.