MILAN, Oct 8 (Reuters) - An Italian court sentenced on

Tuesday two Milan prosecutors to eight months in prison for

failing to file documents that would have supported energy group

Eni's position in an international corruption case.

Eni, Shell, and all the defendants were

nevertheless acquitted by a court in Milan in March 2021 in what

came to be known as the industry's biggest corruption case,

which revolved around the $1.3 billion acquisition of a Nigerian

oilfield a decade ago.

Judges in a court in the northern city of Brescia ruled that

Milan prosecutors Fabio De Pasquale and Sergio Spadaro had a

legal obligation to file documents that could have helped the

defence team in that trial.

The Brescia court has jurisdiction over judges and

prosecutors in the nearby city of Milan.

The Milan court that acquitted all the defendants in the Eni

Shell trial criticised the way the prosecutors had carried out

their work, saying they had failed to file among the trial

documents a video shot by a former Eni external lawyer, which

they said was relevant to the case.

The Brescia court issued the eight-month sentence that had

been requested by prosecutors who said De Pasquale and Spadaro

had hidden elements in favour of the defendants in the Eni-Shell

trial, infringing their rights.

A lawyer for the two men had asked the court for a full

acquittal, arguing there was no rule that immediately and

directly required prosecutors to file documents in a trial. The

lawyer had no immediate comment on the conviction.

The government and the interior ministry, which are liable

to pay possible damages, had also called for the prosecutors'

acquittal.

(Reporting by Emilio Parodi, editing by Keith Weir, Gavin Jones

and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)