Italy on trial over Ilva. Two appeals lodged by 182 citizens of Taranto have been accepted: not all the measures necessary to protect residents' health are said to have been adopted.
Italy is to be tried by the European Court of Human Rights over the case of Ilva in Taranto, in Puglia, because the state "has not adopted all the measures necessary to protect the environment and health, in particular in the light of the findings of the report drawn up within the framework of the seizure procedure" (the national epidemiological study of areas and settlements exposed to pollution risk), according to the Court's stated reasons for opening the proceedings. But while a new case opens in Strasbourg, in Taranto the trial for the alleged environmental disaster caused by the steelworks has been adjourned due to a defect in notification. The next hearing is scheduled for 14 June.
The European Court of Human Rights has accepted two appeals lodged by 182 Italian citizens resident in Taranto, one on 29 July 2013 and the other on 21 October 2015: in both cases Italy (and specifically the government) is accused of having allowed Ilva to continue operating and therefore to continue emitting harmful substances, thus failing to act to guarantee citizens' health. The Court, combining the two appeals and finding them admissible, has notified Italy to begin preparing its defence, ahead of a trial to be scheduled shortly. The mere fact that the Court has accepted the Taranto residents' applications is considered a very significant development by Lina Ambrogi Melle who, as a councillor on Taranto's municipal council, promoted the second appeal: "Victory — the trial for the violation of our rights to life and health as citizens of Taranto is now opening!".
In Taranto, meanwhile, the trial before the assize court — aimed at establishing the alleged environmental disaster caused by emissions from the Ilva plants — has begun (but was immediately adjourned by one month), with the Puglia Region having joined as a civil party, and with governor Michele Emiliano who, despite belonging to the Pd just like the current government under scrutiny in Strasbourg, is asking: "how is it possible that a plant continues to operate when the judiciary is accusing its former managers of such serious crimes?".