The trial has been delayed after several trips but now, five years after the fire ravaged, 15 days have been set aside in Västmanland District Court. The defendant stands the forest company Stora Enso and the forest contractor whose forest machine is believed to have started the fire. According to prosecutor Christer Sammers, both companies have been negligent on the fire risk and have been guilty of negligent negligence.
- I say that you have run with the ground manager and that it is the one who caused the fire. Both companies have a responsibility. You would not have driven from the beginning. It was too hot and it was too dry, says Christer Sammers.
The two companies refuse to commit crimes and believe that they are not at all responsible for causing the fire. If any of the prosecuted companies are dropped, they risk a company fine of SEK 5 million each.
Already in January 2017, Prosecutor Christer Sammens stated that the preliminary investigation was complete. Since then, the parties involved have wanted to supplement the investigation and after prosecution was filed in January last year, Stora Enso also demanded that the trial be postponed. But now the process is expected to start for just over a month.