The mayor of a ski resort town in the French Alps was convicted of manslaughter today in connection with an avalanche that killed 12 people in 1999.

As reported on Natives in October 2001, the mayor had been placed under investigation for "homicides et blessures involontaires" in connection with the avalanche in February 1999 that swept away 23 chalets, killing 12 people.

A subsequent inquiry looked into whether the local authority had been negligent in deeming the area safe for property development. Permits were given to build the hamlets in Tour and Montroc in zones where there was a known risk of avalanches ('constructibles mais avec des risques').

A court in the eastern French town of Bonneville sentenced Mayor Michel Charlet to a symbolic three-month suspended term after prosecutors recommended the charges be dropped. The court ruled that Charlet should have evacuated the chalets after a massive snowfall.

The judgment means Charlet will not serve time but the conviction will appear in his criminal record. The mayor said he still had not decided if he would appeal.

[Source: AP]

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