Chilean court acquits former Nova Austral CEO over environmental crime charges
In a unanimous decision, the First Chamber of the Court of Appeals of Punta Arenas in Chile accepted the appeal, bringing to a close a legal process that has lasted more than five years.
Nicos Nicolaides Bussenius was first convicted of environmental crime in the form of water contamination between 2017 and 2019, and sentenced to prison.
The new ruling stated: “The trial court found that Nicos Nicolaides Bussenius and Drago Covacich McKay, in the interest and for the benefit of Nova Austral, overstocked salmon beyond what was permitted under the environmental rating regulations.
The ruling described the alleged rationale behind the practice, stating that: “This was done to maximize the company’s profits, ensuring that even with natural mortality during the production cycle, the final biomass would approach the legal maximum allowed. This overstocking led to a significant increase in organic waste - mainly uneaten and non-degraded feed and faeces - from the farming centers, resulting in environmental impacts.”
However, the appeal court determined that the lower court did not give evidence of environmental damage, but merely described the overstocking of salmon without establishing actual harm to the environment resulting from it.
The key issue was the lack of demonstrated harm to hydrobiological resources.
The old ruling only mentioned the presence of pollutants without detailing any resulting environmental damage, according to the new ruling, which states that this omission is crucial, since the offense in question requires proof of such damage.
“The judgment accepted the thesis that we raised as a defense in the case, establishing that the crime of water pollution was not committed because there was no damage to hydrobiological resources required by law (...) With this decision, the accusation of the Prosecutor’s Office, which suffered from important factual and legal errors, was completely dismissed,” the lawyers said.
“We are very satisfied with the result," they said.
Additionally, the court noted that two other co-defendants were convicted as accomplices. Although they did not appeal the original ruling, they will still benefit from the appellate decision.
Chilean environmental organisation Terram Fundacion labels the new ruling as “worrying”.
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