It is of course outrageous that anyone, let alone a judge could orshould expect human prescience.
It is completely valid to expect a horrific earthquake in anearthquake zone. The fact that they are almost random and rare hasallowed people to live there.
The judges are now expecting a result that taken to its logicalconclusion would reasonably entail the evacuation of Italy. InCalifornia, less than one hundred died in a quake equivalent toHaiti.
Italian scientistssentenced to jail in quake trial
by Staff Writers
L'Aquila, Italy(AFP) Oct 22, 2012
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Italy_scientists_sentenced_to_jail_in_quake_trial_999.html
Six Italian scientistsand a government official were sentenced to six years in jail onMonday for multiple manslaughter in a watershed ruling that foundthem guilty of underestimating the risks of a killer earthquake in2009.
They were also orderedto paymore than nine million euros (almost $12 million) in damages tosurvivors in the devastated medieval town of L'Aquila in a case thathas sparked outrage in the international science community.
Seismologists in Italyand beyond were horrified by the unprecedented sentence and arguedthat all science was being put on trial.
Under the Italianjustice system, the seven remain free until they have exhausted twochances to appeal the verdict.
Prosecutor FabioPicuti had asked for jail sentences of four years for each defendantfor failing to alert the population of the walled medieval town tothe risks, days before the 6.3-magnitude quake that killed 309people.
"I amcrestfallen, desperate. I thought I would be acquitted. I still don'tunderstand what I'm accused of," said Enzo Boschi, who was thehead of Italy's national geophysics institute (INGV) at the time.
All seven defendantswere members of the Major Risks Committee which met in L'Aquila onMarch 31, 2009 -- six days before the quake devastated the region,tearing down houses and churches and leaving thousands of peoplehomeless.
Picuti had slammed theexperts for providing "an incomplete, inept, unsuitable andcriminally mistaken" analysis, which reassured locals and ledmany to stay indoors when the first tremors hit.
"This is ahistoric sentence, above all for the victims," said lawyer Waniadella Vigna, who represents 11 plaintiffs, including the family of anIsraeli student who died when a student residence collapsed on top ofhim.
"It also marks astep forward for the justice system and I hope it will lead tochange, not only in Italy but across the world," she said.
The bright blueclassroom-sized temporary tribunal in L'Aquila -- built on anindustrial estate after the town's historic court was flattened inthe quake -- was packed with lawyers, advisors and internationalmedia for the verdict.
Four of the defendantswere in court, as well as a small group of survivors.
Aldo Scimia, whosemother was killed, welled up as the verdict was read out.
"We cannot callthis a victory. It's a tragedy, whatever way you look at it, it won'tbring our loved ones back," he said.
"I continue tocall this a massacre at the hand of the state, but at least now wehope that our children may live safer lives."
-- A historic legalprecedent –
Some commentators hadwarned that any convictions would dissuade other experts from sharingtheir expertise for fear of legal retribution.
"We are deeplyconcerned. It's not just seismology which has been put on trial butall science," Charlotte Krawczyk, president of the seismologydivision at the European Geosciences Union (EGU), told AFP.
"All scientistsare really shocked by this," said Krawczyk. "We are tryingto organise ourselves and come up with a strong statement that couldhelp so that the scientists do not have to go to jail."
The current INGV headStefano Gresta also said the trial had set a legal precedent whichwould have serious repercussions across the science world.
"What scientistwill want to express his opinion knowing that he could finish inprison?" he asked.
Filippo Dinacci,lawyer for the-then deputy director of the Civil Protection agencyBernardo De Bernardinis and its seismic risk office chief MauroDolce, said it was "difficult to understand" the verdict --after criticising the charges last week as something out of "medievalcriminal law".
The governmentcommittee met after a series of small tremors in the preceding weekshad sown panic among local inhabitants -- particularly after aresident began making worrying unofficial earthquake predictions.
Italy's topseismologists were called to evaluate the situation and DeBernardinis gave press interviews saying the seismic activity inL'Aquila posed "no danger".
"The ruling in myopinion is not fair. We will certainly be appealing," saidAlessandra Stefano, lawyer for the head of the European centre ofearthquake engineering Gian Michele Calvi.
Over 5,000 members ofthe scientific community sent an open letter to President GiorgioNapolitano denouncing the trial against colleagues for failing topredict a quake -- a feat widely acknowledged to be impossible.
"Seismologistsare more or less reconciled to the fact that the chances ofpredicting when a large earthquake is going to strike are somewhatmore remote than finding the Holy Grail," said Roger Musson atthe British Geological Survey, calling the verdict "unbelievable".
The other defendantsare Giulio Selvaggi, head of the INGV's national earthquake centre inRome; Franco Barberi from Rome's University Three and Claudio Evafrom the University of Genoa.
About 120,000 peoplewere affected by the quake, which destroyed the city's historiccentre and medieval churches as well as surrounding villages.
L'Aquila residentOrtense, whose sister was killed in the quake, said: "We didn'tcome here to get revenge, these men are all family men. But it doesbring some comfort to know that someone will pay the price formisleading us."
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder