The AZF  Trial

Charged with involuntary manslaughter and wounding, Grande Paroisse and the former plant manager were tried in the Toulouse Criminal Court. The four-month-long trial ended July 1. The Toulouse Criminal Court in its verdict on November 19, acquitted Grande Paroisse and Serge Biechlin.

The Public Prosecutor has appealed against this decision and a new trial should be held in Toulouse, in 2011.

To this day, the explosion at the AZF plant on 21 September 2001 remains an enigma. Despite an investigation by some 40 court-appointed experts that lasted more than five years and a four-month-long trial, the causes have yet to be determined.