A regional court found them guilty of multiple manslaughter（过失杀人）. 

 

Prosecutors¹ said the defendants² gave a falsely reassuring³ statement before the quake, while the defence maintained there was no way to predict major quakes.

 

The 6.3 magnitude quake devastated⁴ the city and killed 309 people.

 

Many smaller tremors⁶ had rattled⁷ the area in the months before the quake that destroyed much of the historic centre.

 

It took Judge Marco Billi slightly more than four hours to reach the verdict in the trial, which had begun in September 2011. 

 

Lawyers have said that they will appeal against the sentence. As convictions are not definitive⁸ until after at least one level of appeal in Italy, it is unlikely any of the defendants will immediately face prison.

 

The seven - all members of the National Commission for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks - were accused of having provided "inaccurate⁹, incomplete and contradictory¹⁰" information about the danger of the tremors felt ahead of 6 April 2009 quake, Italian media report.

 

In addition to their sentences, all have been barred from ever holding public office again, La Repubblica reports.

 

In the closing statement, the prosecution¹¹ quoted one of its witnesses, whose father died in the earthquake. 

 

It described how Guido Fioravanti had called his mother at about 11:00 on the night of the earthquake - straight after the first tremor⁵.

 

"I remember the fear in her voice. On other occasions they would have fled but that night, with my father, they repeated to themselves what the risk commission had said. And they stayed."

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