Franco Di Mare’s lawyer: “He fell ill due to Rai’s responsibility, two other colleagues have cancer. Asbestos in Viale Mazzini? Yes…”

The speaker is Ezio Bonanni, the journalist's lawyer and president of the National Asbestos Observatory (ONA). In Italy 7 thousand deaths in 2023 from mesothelioma

ROME –  “The Rai was wrong to deny Franco Di Mare the status of service with the list of places and duration of his company’s trips career Rai’s Code of Ethics would have imposed a different type of behavior. We will see this in the competent judicial bodies.” Thus the lawyer Ezio Bonanni, lawyer of the journalist Franco Di Mare and president of the National Asbestos Observatory (ONA), during an interview given to Dire. “Di Mare – the lawyer adds – contracted mesothelioma because there is a precise responsibility of Rai, which should have provided him with the requested data”. Among other things, the lawyer Bonanni also states, the ONA wrote “at least two other people who worked with him in that period, when he was a war correspondent, and who show symptoms of a respiratory disease”. Not only that: “In Rai there are also other cases of mesothelioma that we as the National Asbestos Observatory are following”. But are we talking about the presence of Asbestos inside the Viale Mazzini headquarters? “Yes – replies Bonanni to Dire – I asked for access to the documents to verify if the headquarters had been reclaimed, but I have not yet been allowed”. Di Mare, meanwhile, was the “first journalist to talk about Asbestos on Rai1 – says Bonanni – he interviewed me way back in 2006 and also moderated a conference for our Association at the Lazio Region”. And his lawyer is certain of one thing: “Di Mare’s strong and courageous complaint will constitute a milestone in the protection of the health not only of journalists but also of all the other workers who have suffered damage”.

“In 2023 alone in Italy there were around 7 thousand deaths attributable to pathologies such as asbestosis or mesothelioma which derive from asbestos and every year there are around 10 thousand new diagnoses of patients. Making a statistical estimate, therefore, we can assume that in our country there are approximately 9 thousand legal disputes linked to asbestos and asbestos-related diseases every year”. Thus the lawyer Ezio Bonanni, president of the National Asbestos Observatory (ONA) and lawyer of the journalist Franco Di Mare, during an interview given to Dire. “Furthermore – continued the lawyer Bonanni – there is the issue of the underground economy: many people get sick without knowing they have been exposed to asbestos and often die without having received a real diagnosis. I remember that mesothelioma, in particular, is a rare and very aggressive tumor that leads to death in 93% of cases, killing even within a few days.” Just yesterday, meanwhile, it was Labor Day and the president of the ONA takes the opportunity to underline the “bloody” fatal accidents at work (1,041 in Italy in 2023 alone) are only the “tip of the iceberg of a phenomenon which has dramatically higher numbers” because, precisely, deaths from asbestos should not be “forgotten”. Is Italy therefore not a safe country to work in? “Unfortunately, no – lawyer Bonanni replies to Dire – even the trade union forces themselves have not always been able to effectively represent the needs of protecting workplace safety in the past. In the past the risk has been monetised with the indemnity of risk, but the truth is that in our country there has never been a policy that preserved the health of workers”. Then the appeal to the institutions: “For this reason, as ONA we make an appeal to Prime Minister Meloni to ensure that the issue of asbestos abatement returns to the government agenda. Only in this way – he concluded – will it be possible to stop this silent massacre”.