TAV protests not terror says top court (2)

(ANSA) - Rome, March 28 - Violent protests against the construction of a high-speed rail (TAV) line in Val di Susa north of Turin were not terrorism, Italy's top court ruled Tuesday, rejecting an appeal from Turin prosecutors. The Cassation Court confirmed a three-and-a-half-year sentence for four 'no TAV' activists, Claudio Alberti, Niccolò Blasi, Chiara Zenobi and Mattia Zanotti, who were found guilty of throwing molotov cocktails against the work site at Chiomonte in 2015. No TAV protests have been going on for years in the Val di Susa along the route of the Turin-Lyon link. Activists say the line wreaks huge environmental damage in a pristine Alpine valley and causes unacceptable disruption and pollution.