Liguria ex-regional civil
protection councilor Raffaella Paita was acquitted Friday of
manslaughter and negligent disaster charges over a 2014 flood
that claimed one life in Genoa and caused millions in damage.
A preliminary hearings judge also indicted former civil
protection chief Gabriella Minervini on the same charges over
the the October 9, 2014, flood. Her trial will begin on March
14.
The prosecution had requested an eight-year prison term for
Paita, who is from the center-left Democratic Party (PD) of
Premier Matteo Renzi.
The two officials were accused of failing to raise the
alarm prior to the flash floods in Genoa that killed retired
nurse Antonio Campanella and covered the port city in mud.
Campanella, 57, was swept away by floodwater after the
Bisagno River, Genoa's main waterway, burst its banks.
Flood-protection systems were not completed in Genoa
despite a disaster that killed six people in 2011, compounding
anger over the flooding and mudslides that caused millions of
euros in damage.
While 35 million euros had been earmarked for shoring up
the city, projects became bogged down in legal wrangles and red
tape.
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