Ex Fiat, Alfa bosses cleared of asbestos

(ANSA) - Milan, June 24 - The former top brass and managers of Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Lancia were cleared again on appeal Monday of responsibility in the deaths of 15 workers who died of asbestos-linked tumours after exposure at the Alfa plant at Arese.
    The appeals judges confirmed the acquittals of former Fiat Auto CEO Paolo Cantarella, former Fiat president Giorgio Garuzzo, former Lancia Industriale president Pietro Fusaro and another two former Alfa CEOs.
    The case has dragged on for years.
    Among the others indicted was ex-Alfa chief executive Vincenzo Moro.
    All the former top Fiat executives, active in the 1990s, were facing multiple manslaughter charges.
    The Alfa Romeo plant in Arese is located in the northwestern periphery of Milan The prosecution claimed the workers's deaths, which took place from the year 2000 onward, were due to asbestos they inhaled due to allegedly inadequate protection in the 1980s and early 1990s.
    photo: Cantarella in archive pic