A Hungarian judge ruled Wednesday that Zoltan Bakonyi, managing director of the Hungarian Aluminium Production and Trade Company (MAL Rt.), involved in the recent sludge spill, will not be charged with negligence since the prosecution could not substantiate its argument.
Bakonyi has been released from police custody. Bakonyi’s lawyer Janos Banati said the prosecutors were preparing an appeal. He said they think Bakonyi, who became the managing director of the company two years ago, did not prepare well enough emergency and rescue plans in case of an accident, the Associated Press (AP) reported. The emergency plans at that time were approved by the authorities and had no need to be updated, Banati said.
According to AP, many victims of the spill blame the management of MAL Rt. The government took over the company on Tuesday to make MAL Rt. pay damages to the victims, while maintaining jobs. The plant near Ajka (West Hungary) is expected to restart production on Friday. The wall of the plant’s sludge reservoir burst after some heavy rainfall in the region, poisoning local waterways, leading to hundreds of homes becoming uninhabitable and nine deaths.
The Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had promised that those responsible for the ecological disaster will face consequences.
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