The trial in Italy for unlawful construction work for the alpine ski races in Zermatt/Cervinia will resume on February 17. OC President Franz Julen and three co-defendants will have to answer to the court in Aosta for environmental offenses.
24.01.2025, 11:15
SDA
The President of the Italian Cervinia mountain railroads and his predecessor, as well as an excavator driver, must also appear in court. All the defendants deny the accusations.
The indictment accuses them of digging a 330-metre-long and eight-metre-wide trench parallel to the glacier tongue of the Plateau Rosa glacier on Italian soil without authorization. This is said to be a connecting route between the glacier and the main slope, which was not approved in the plans.
According to Article 181 of the Italian Code of Cultural Heritage and Landscape, the defendants face one to four years in prison if they have carried out work without authorization.
Trial adjourned twice
The trial opened in the capital of the Aosta Valley on October 17, 2024. Given the number of documents submitted by the defense at the beginning of the trial, the judge decided to take some time to take note of the new elements.
The trial was adjourned to February 5. However, at the request of the Keystone-SDA news agency, the prosecutor in charge announced a further postponement of the hearing until February 17.
On that day, the judge will receive the parties concerned for a preliminary hearing in camera to prepare for the future trial, the date of which has not yet been set.
Trouble in Switzerland too
The organizers of the races in Zermatt/Cervinia are also facing legal repercussions in Switzerland. The reason for this is excavation work on the Theodul Glacier on the Swiss side outside the approved ski area.
The Valais Construction Commission (CCC) determined that the route of the men's downhill did not comply with the slope plan because it had been widened in the summit area.
In the opinion of the building commission, part of the slope was "outside the ski zone", while another part was "inside the ski zone but outside the approved slope perimeter". The use of these additional areas was subsequently prohibited by the building commission.
The building commission told Keystone-SDA on request that "the investigation is still ongoing". It did not wish to comment further on the status of the investigation. However, it pointed out that "violations of the building law are generally punished by administrative criminal proceedings".
Removed from the World Cup calendar
In 2022 and 2023, the first two editions of these cross-border races between Switzerland and Italy were canceled due to the weather.
The bad news for the organizers followed in March 2024: the International Ski Federation (FIS) decided to remove these races from the World Cup calendar for both men and women.
