The Civil Court of L'Aquila has sentenced the Presidency of the Council of Ministers to compensate the 30 plaintiffs eight million euros for the reassurances offered by the former number two of the National Department of Civil Protection, Bernardo De Bernardinis , already convicted in a sentence passed in sentenced to 2 years' imprisonment.
The legal initiative concerns the work of the Major Risks Commission meeting in L'Aquila on 31 March 2009, five days after the tragic quake, which had reassured the population that had been dealing with an earthquake swarm for several months .
The legal battle was carried on by the lawyers Maria Teresa di Rocco and Silvia Catalucci, who in 2010 had decided to take civil action instead of criminal action against the same Presidency of the Council of Ministers because the Major Risks Commission is an advisory body of the same .
The compensation to the victims' families was not divided equally, but according to the damages suffered .
"Having therefore at least potentially ascertained the suitability of De Bernardinis' statements to have a causal effect on the conduct of the citizens of L'Aquila, it is a matter of verifying here whether this causal efficacy has also been demonstrated, at the end of the civil investigation, in the against the plaintiffs who did not appear as plaintiffs in the criminal trial, reads the sentence of the judge of the Civil Court of L'Aquila.
Those reassuring phrases had been made a week before the earthquake in L'Aquila on April 6, 2009 (309 dead, thousands injured and tens of thousands displaced) by the former number two of the Civil Protection Department , who according to the same Court it conditioned the habits of the same population who stayed at home instead of finding shelter outside.
«In particular, Bernardo De Bernardinis - reads a passage of the sentence - had stated with regard to the seismic swarm that "there is no danger, I also told the mayor, the scientific community continues to confirm to me that indeed it is a situation favourable, therefore, a continuous discharge of energy...” . These declarations have been deemed suitable in criminal proceedings to affect the behavior of citizens and consequently, as the result of negligence, inexperience, and imprudence, also to found the criminal liability of the same and the consequent conviction of today's civil defendant defendant to pay compensation for damages suffered by the victims ».
It was also held that « the Presidency of the Council of Ministers had and had the concrete possibility of verifying the correctness of the actions of the defendants both in compliance with specific regulatory duties and in application of the generic rules of diligence, prudence and expertise. This duty of control was certainly carried out towards De Bernardinis given his role as Deputy Head of the National Department of Civil Protection, a body headed by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers".
(Unioneonline/L)
