A Swiss billionaire and a Belgian baron have been found guilty and sentenced to 16 years each in prison by an Italian court in a groundbreaking trial over 3000 alleged asbestos-related deaths.
Stephan Schmidheiny, the former owner of a company making Eternit fibre cement, and Jean-Louis Marie Ghislain de Cartier de Marchienne, a major shareholder, were sentenced in absentia after being found guilty of causing an environmental disaster and failing to comply with safety regulations.
They were also ordered to pay 30,000 euros ($A37,220) in damages to relatives of people killed by asbestos-related diseases, and 35,000 euros for every sick person, as well as other payouts expected to total tens of millions of euros.
Hundreds of relatives of victims had waited anxiously for the verdict in a trial that was closely watched as a potential precedent around the world, and they wept, cheered and clapped when the sentence was read aloud on Monday.
"It's a fair verdict which acknowledges their responsibility ... the problem now is to see if the condemned men will face up to their obligations, because we're not sure," lawyer Sergio Bonetto said.
Schmidheiny is now 64 years old and De Cartier 90. Their crimes usually carry a maximum 12-year sentence, but prosecutors had sought a harsher punishment because they say the fallout continues to affect victims.
Defence lawyers denied the accused had direct responsibility for the Italian company, and the pair have been absent from court throughout.
"This trial will go down in history ... but it will not bring my dad back," said Piero Ferraris, whose father, Evasio, died in 1988 of lung cancer after working in a local Eternit factory from 1946 to 1979.
The verdict was watched by about 1500 relatives, victims and supporters who huddled around three large screens streaming the hearing live.
Ahead of the verdict, relatives held up banners with sketches of the Swiss billionaire behind bars.
Eternit went bankrupt six years before asbestos was banned in Italy in 1992.
"I have never seen such a tragedy. It affects workers and inhabitants ... it continues to cause deaths and will continue to do so for who knows how long," prosecutor Raffaele Guariniello said in his closing speech in November.
The trial, which began in 2009 after a five-year investigation, is the biggest of its kind against a multinational for asbestos-related deaths.
Asbestos, banned in Europe in 2005 but still widely used in the developing world, had been used mainly as building insulation for its sound absorption and resistance to fire, heat and electrical damage.
The inhalation of asbestos fibres can cause lung inflammation and cancer, and symptoms can take up to 20 years to manifest after exposure.
"It is a historic verdict ... But the battle against asbestos does not end here, even with an exemplary sentence," Italy's Health Minister Renato Balduzzi said in a statement.
"It is not a local battle, but a national one, a worldwide one. The Turin verdict shows that Italy is doing its part," he said.
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