Trade unions join as civil parties in the Brandizzo massacre trial
Ahead of the opening of the trial over the Brandizzo massacre, on 30 September 2026 at the Ivrea court, Fillea and Filt Cgil announce they will join as civil parties.
The trial over the Brandizzo massacre, in which five workers died on 30 August 2023, opens on 30 September 2026 at the Ivrea court. On 24 September 2026, at a public rally in Piazza Tempia in Brandizzo, the unions Fillea and Filt Cgil announce that they will join the trial as civil parties; the municipality of Brandizzo, through mayor Monica Durante, also announces that it will join as a civil party.
Filt Cgil Torino e Piemonte's secretary Giuseppe Santomauro states: «This is not a day of remembrance but a day of struggle [...] We will go into the courtroom to dismantle a system, from the national management that contracts and subcontracts, down to the companies that provide no training». Fillea Cgil's general secretary Antonio Di Franco asks that the victims be recognised as victims of duty.
The rally in Piazza Tempia and the opening of the trial in Ivrea
The day before, at a public rally titled «Brandizzo: il lavoro chiede giustizia» ("Brandizzo: labour demands justice") in Piazza Tempia in Brandizzo, Fillea Cgil's general secretary Antonio Di Franco spoke alongside Lidia Orastella, mother of victim Giuseppe Aversa, calling for the victims to be recognised as «victims of duty» and for a ban on subcontracting; Fillea Cgil Piemonte's general secretary Massimo Cogliandro called for free legal aid for families in financial difficulty. Filt Cgil Torino e Piemonte's secretary Giuseppe Santomauro and Cgil Torino's secretary Federico Bellono also spoke.
The preliminary hearing opens in Ivrea (30 September 2026)
On 30 September 2026 the preliminary hearing over the Brandizzo massacre opens at the Ivrea court before preliminary-hearing judge Mauro Cantone: the public prosecutor's office has requested that the companies Rfi, Sigifer and Clf and 21 individuals be committed for trial, including Rfi's former chief executive Giampiero Strisciuglio, now chief executive of the Fs Italiane Group. The alleged charges are multiple manslaughter and negligent railway disaster. The prosecution is led by prosecutors Valentina Bossi and Giulia Nicodemi, coordinated by chief prosecutor Gabriella Viglione. Given the size of the case file — 12 binders plus two more dedicated to wiretaps, about 84 terabytes of digital material — the court is using two courtrooms linked by videoconference. The municipality of Brandizzo and the association Sicurezza e Lavoro have also announced that they will join as civil parties.
The opening of the trial: the preliminary hearing of 30 September 2026
On 30 September 2026 the preliminary hearing over the Brandizzo massacre opens at the Ivrea court; five workers died in the massacre, during the night between 30 and 31 August 2023: Giuseppe Aversa, Kevin Laganà, Michael Zanera, Giuseppe Sorvillo and Saverio Giuseppe Lombardo, employees of the subcontracting company Sigifer, struck by a train while carrying out maintenance work on the tracks.
At the end of an investigation lasting three years, the Ivrea public prosecutor's office has requested that the companies Rfi, Sigifer and Clf and 21 individuals — company and corporate executives — be committed for trial, including Giampiero Strisciuglio, at the time Rfi's chief executive and now chief executive of the Fs Italiane Group. The alleged charges are multiple manslaughter and negligent railway disaster, as well as breaches of workplace-safety regulations.
According to the prosecution's case, the tragedy cannot be traced only to the minutes before the train's arrival, but to a wider chain of alleged failures in prevention, coordination, oversight and training: that night the workers are alleged to have gone onto the tracks before rail traffic had been formally suspended.
Besides the civil-party actions already announced by the unions, the municipality of Brandizzo and the association Sicurezza e Lavoro have also made known their involvement in the proceedings. In the background remains a second investigation by the Ivrea public prosecutor's office into the safety procedures adopted by Rfi after the tragedy, which also involves Strisciuglio: Rfi has stated that it has responded to Spresal's requests and is cooperating with the relevant authorities.
Chronology
- — The preliminary hearing over the Brandizzo railway massacre of 30 August 2023, in which five Sigifer workers died, opens at the Ivrea court: 21 defendants and the companies Rfi, Sigifer and Clf are committed for trial. → ANSA Piemonte CronacaQui Torino
Related articles: Preliminary Hearing for the Brandizzo Railway Massacre (September 2026)
Pages linking here
Sources
- ANSA Piemonte — 24 September 2026
- Quotidiano Piemontese — 24 September 2026
- ANSA Piemonte — 29 September 2026
- CronacaQui Torino — 29 September 2026