12-year sentence for those responsible for Genoa's Morandi Bridge collapse, which killed two Romanians

Giovanni Castellucci, the former CEO of Italian highway operator Autostrade per l'Italia (Aspi), has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in the catastrophic collapse of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa in August 2018. The disaster resulted in the deaths of 43 people, including two Romanian nationals. Prosecutors had requested a significantly longer sentence for Castellucci, who is already serving a six-year term for a separate 2013 road accident. Another high-ranking Aspi official, Michele Donferri Mitelli, received an 11-year sentence. The verdict was met with a degree of satisfaction from victims' families; Emmanuel Diaz, whose brother was killed, expressed contentment, while Egle Possetti, who lost her sister and family, found the 12-year sentence "acceptable." Castellucci was not present in court when the verdicts were read by Judge Paolo Lepri. Other sentences included five and a half years for former Aspi deputy chief Paolo Berti. In total, prosecutors had sought approximately 400 years of imprisonment for the 57 defendants, arguing that they repeatedly neglected maintenance of the viaduct, built in 1967, and ignored warning signs. Defense lawyers, however, pointed to alleged design defects and issues with concrete encasing a specific cable. The trial involved engineers from the maintenance company Spea and former officials from both the Ministry of Transport and Aspi's parent company, Atlantia. Spea's former CEO, Antonino Galatà, received a five-and-a-half-year sentence, and Mauro Coletta, a former senior official in the ministry's highway directorate, was sentenced to five years. Just before the trial, the current head of Aspi, Arrigo Giana, issued a public apology, acknowledging that "the actions and decisions of some people have left indelible scars."

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The actions and decisions of some people have left indelible scars.