English Story

意六名科学家过失杀人被判刑

Six Italian scientists and an ex-government official have been sentenced to six years in prison over the 2009 deadly earthquake in L'Aquila.

意大利六名科学家与一名前政府官员因2009年拉奎拉大地震而被判入狱六年。
 
A regional court found them guilty of multiple manslaughter(过失杀人)
 
Prosecutors said the defendants gave a falsely reassuring statement before the quake, while the defence maintained there was no way to predict major quakes.
 
The 6.3 magnitude quake devastated the city and killed 309 people.
 
Many smaller tremors had rattled the area in the months before the quake that destroyed much of the historic centre.
 
It took Judge Marco Billi slightly more than four hours to reach the verdict in the trial, which had begun in September 2011. 
 
Lawyers have said that they will appeal against the sentence. As convictions are not definitive until after at least one level of appeal in Italy, it is unlikely any of the defendants will immediately face prison.

'Alarming' case
 
The seven - all members of the National Commission for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks - were accused of having provided "inaccurate, incomplete and contradictory" information about the danger of the tremors felt ahead of 6 April 2009 quake, Italian media report.
 
In addition to their sentences, all have been barred from ever holding public office again, La Repubblica reports.
 
In the closing statement, the prosecution quoted one of its witnesses, whose father died in the earthquake. 
 
It described how Guido Fioravanti had called his mother at about 11:00 on the night of the earthquake - straight after the first tremor.
 
"I remember the fear in her voice. On other occasions they would have fled but that night, with my father, they repeated to themselves what the risk commission had said. And they stayed."