Former Italian motorway boss among 32 convicted over Genoa bridge tragedy

By Emilio Parodi

GENOA, Italy, July 16 (Reuters) - The ‌former head of Italian ​motorway operator Autostrade ​per l'Italia was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Thursday for his role in a disaster that killed 43 people when a bridge collapsed near the city of Genoa in 2018.

Giovanni Castellucci was among 32 ‌people convicted over the collapse of the Morandi bridge which sent vehicles plunging onto warehouses and ⁠a riverbed beneath the flyover during a summer storm.

Michele Donferri Mitelli, another former senior Autostrade manager, got 11 years. A further 25 defendants were either acquitted or ‌cleared because of the statute of ‌limitations.

Egle Possetti, a spokesperson for the victims, called the Genoa court's verdicts, which can be appealed, "a first stage ... that opens up a ray of light."

"We are satisfied with the sentences. The important thing was to identify the precise responsibilities for individual ​senior roles in the companies involved," added Possetti, who lost her sister, brother-in-law and her sister's two children in the tragedy.

There was silence as presiding judge Paolo Lepri read out the verdicts for around 45 minutes in a courtroom packed with 400 ⁠relatives of the victims, lawyers, journalists and members of the public.

The case had become both a search for accountability for the disaster and a symbol of the slow pace ​of justice in complex Italian criminal proceedings.

CASTELLUCCI TO APPEAL

Castellucci, who also served as CEO of Atlantia, the controlling shareholder in Autostrade at the time, was convicted of complicity in multiple counts of ​manslaughter through negligence. Prosecutors had demanded a sentence of more than 18 ‌years for him.

Castellucci is already in prison, serving a six-year sentence over another fatal incident in 2013 on a viaduct in southern Italy, and was not in court to hear the verdict.

His legal team ⁠said they would appeal and that he had been made a scapegoat.

"This is a defeat for the truth of what happened," his lawyer Giovanni Paolo Accinni said.

"It is part of a trend that has already led to Castellucci being sent to prison. The criminalisation of the chief executive ⁠cannot be the solution. We will continue to fight for his innocence."

Under the Italian legal system, the first instance ruling can be appealed at least ​twice.

VEHICLES PLUNGE FROM BROKEN BRIDGE

The collapse of the Morandi bridge on the eve of a national holiday shocked Italy and triggered years of investigations into the management and maintenance of its ageing infrastructure.

A 50-metre (160-foot) high section of the bridge collapsed with as many as 35 vehicles driving across it.

The ‌disaster caused a dispute between Atlantia, controlled by the Benetton family, and the then government that ended with the sale of Atlantia's controlling stake in Autostrade.

Prosecutors argue that years of inadequate maintenance, ‌ignored warning signs and delayed safety work contributed to the collapse, alleging that vital work was postponed while profits continued to be generated and ⁠distributed.

Defence lawyers reject that theory. They argue that the ‌disaster was caused by an original ​design defect in the bridge's stay cable number nine, the one that failed, and that no maintenance programme could have prevented the tragedy.

(Reporting by Emilio ParodiWriting by Keith Weir; Editing by Sharon Singleton, Alexandra Hudson ‌and Andrew Heavens)

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