Company accused in asbestos deaths argues case should be dismissed as too old

Eternit, a building materials company, argues that the asbestos prosecution brought against it by the Public Prosecution Service (OM) has already expired due to the statute of limitations. Its lawyer asked the court in Almelo on Friday to first have the issue of limitation reviewed by the Supreme Court. “If the Supreme Court rules in my favour, there won’t be any case left,” he said in court, according to ANP.

Last year, the OM decided to prosecute the company from Goor for the deaths of three people who became ill due to prolonged exposure to carcinogenic asbestos fibers. According to the prosecution, Eternit knowingly exposed workers in the past to serious health risks. According to experts, this is the first time a case of this kind has led to prosecution on manslaughter charges.

Eternit’s lawyer, Daan Doorenbos, stressed that the company stopped working with asbestos after the national ban was introduced in 1993. He argues that, as a result, the case should be considered time-barred by 2013 at the latest. He also noted that while the statute of limitations for serious offences was abolished in 2013, this change was not made retroactive.

The prosecution maintains that what matters is the point at which the victims died from their disease, in this case two former workers and the wife of one of them. One of the victims, who worked as a so-called “papboer,” was exposed to asbestos over many years. His wife was also affected after washing his work clothes at home. The youngest victim, employed in the sawing department, died from asbestos-related cancer in 2014.

The proceedings were initiated following a 2019 report by the Asbestos Victims Committee, which claims that Eternit knew about the health risks of asbestos decades earlier but continued to let staff handle the material.

Doorenbos cautioned against assessing past actions through the lens of present-day understanding. He said that asbestos was viewed very differently across society in earlier years, and that its dangers were widely underestimated. As “painful evidence” of this, he pointed out that several Eternit executives have themselves died from asbestos-related diseases over time.

The court has yet to decide on Eternit’s objections, with a ruling expected on July 17. The judge noted that the next steps in the criminal proceedings will depend on that outcome.