Families protest Thyssen sentence cuts

(ANSA) - Turin, May 29 - An appeals court on Thursday reduced sentences handed down to senior officials with steelmaker ThyssenKrupp for their convictions over the deaths of seven workers in a 2007 plant fire, sparking an outcry from victims' families present at the hearing. The former CEO of the Italian division of Germany's ThyssenKrupp, Harald Espenhahn, saw his sentence reduced from 10 to nine years eight months. The Court of Cassation last year ordered a new appeals trial to "recalculate" - but not increase - the sentences. Espenhahn in 2013 saw his first-degree homicide sentence reduced to 10 years from 16 and a half years on appeal, prompting outraged families of the victims to stage a sit-in.
    His initial conviction marked one of the first times that a senior executive was convicted of homicide at a workplace death trial in Italy.
    Four other ThyssenKrupp managers who were convicted of manslaughter also saw their sentences reduced on appeal, while a fifth employee saw his sentence increased.
    However, in April Italy's highest court threw out the new verdicts and ordered a new appeals trial, leading to speculation that the punishments would be increased.
    This was not the case, leading families of victims to protest.
    "This is disgusting," one woman shouted.
    "Today's sentence brings the total to four, and with every one they took another piece away," said Democratic Party (PD) MP Antonio Boccuzzi, an ex-steelworker who is the sole survivor from the team of workers that died in the fire.