Italian Court fully acquits Palumbo Shipyards of waste dumping conviction

After years of legal battles, Antonio Palumbo, owner of Palumbo Shipyards, has been fully acquitted by the Messina Court of Appeal, which ruled his actions in alleged illegal dumping did not constitute a crime.

In 2021, Antonio Palumbo, owner of Palumbo Shipyards, had won an eight-year legal battle after the Messina Court of Appeal overturned his conviction for illegal waste dumping.

Initially sentenced to six years in 2019 for allegedly facilitating illegal dumping between 2011 and 2013, Palumbo maintained the case was politically motivated. 

In a press statement, the Palumbo family, stated that the Court of Appeal of Messina, with a final ruling, has fully acquitted Palumbo Shipyards. 

Antonio Palumbo had already been acquitted in 2021 and was cleared of all charges ‘for not having committed the crime’.  However, this acquittal completely overturns the 2019 conviction for the illegal dumping of waste, where it was ruled that he had facilitated illegal dumping between 2011 and 2013.

The Italian Court thus established that ‘the act does not constitute a crime’.