A victim of duty. After a lengthy legal battle, the Tempio Pausania court has recognized the work-related charges of a former Navy soldier, originally from La Maddalena, who died at age 69 from lung adenocarcinoma with brain metastases.

For twenty years he had worked among military ships, pipes, engine rooms and environments saturated with asbestos , without protection and without knowing that those invisible fibres would seal his destiny.

The Court ordered the Ministry of Defense to pay €200,000 to the family, in addition to the life annuities required by law . It also ordered the soldier's name to be included in the national list of victims of duty.

From the testimonies gathered during the trial, a shocking picture emerged of the use of asbestos within the Navy during the years in which the soldier served as a coxswain and specialized mechanic.

The fibers were everywhere: in the bulkheads, in the panels, in the galleys, and throughout the Maddalena Arsenal . "The ruling restores dignity and justice to a family that for years has had to endure pain and silence," said Ezio Bonanni , president of the National Asbestos Observatory and the family's lawyer. "For too long, thousands of military personnel have worked in contact with asbestos without adequate protection. This decision once again confirms a historical and health truth that is now indisputable."

Furthermore, the Court of Cassation reopened the case regarding the position of a soldier's daughter, recognizing the need to re-examine the right of economically independent children to access the benefits provided for victims of duty.

(Unioneonline/AD)

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