An appeals trial opened in
Florence Thursday over the 2012 Costa Concordia cruise liner
disaster that left 32 dead in Italy's worst postwar maritime
disaster.
In the first-instance trial in Grosseto last year, former
captain Francesco Schettino got 16 years for causing the
shipwreck on the Tuscan island of Giglio and recklessly
abandoning ship.
Schettino was following the appeals hearing from his home
near Naples, and his defence lawyer said he was "tranquil".
Grosseto Prosecutor Alessandro Leopizzi dismissed
Schettino's defence, that the shipwreck was caused by others.
"The shipwreck was 'also' caused by others, but that
doesn't cancel Schettino's responsibility," he said.
Before the trial, Grosseto prosecutors asked the court to
raise Schettino's jail term, arguing his 'Titanic
responsibility' called for 'exemplary punishment'.
The prosecutors believe that the punishment is
insufficient for the disaster, in which the Concordia capsized
after sailing too close to Giglio and hitting rocks.
They asked for a 26-year term at the first-instance trial,
when Schettino was convicted of multiple manslaughter, causing a
shipwreck, abandoning ship and abandoning the incapable.
"Schettino's Titanic responsibility must bring down
exemplary punishment," the prosecutors said.
Laast July, the Grosseto court said in its explanation of
its ruling that Schettino knew people were still aboard the
Concordia when he boarded a life boat and abandoned the
ship, adding that he did this "to save himself with the precise
intention of not getting back on the ship".
In the report, judges said the situation when Schettino
abandoned the Concordia was such as "to make it impossible or
difficult" for the passengers still aboard to "find safety".
"The 32 deaths of the people on board the Concordia
wouldn't have happened if (Schettino) had managed the emergency
with expertise and diligence," the explanation said, and if he
had adhered to "dutiful" regulations for a situation of that
kind.
During the emergency, Schettino received a call from
Italian Coast Guard Commander Gregorio De Falco, who in the
aftermath of the disaster was hailed as a "hero" for ordering
Schettino to return to the sinking Concordia.
In the report, the Grosseto court said that during the
conversation, Schettino was "improvising, recounting a movie
that was playing only in his imagination," and the judges
compared Schettino to an improvisation actor.
"Those lies are offensive towards the hundreds of people
who were trapped," said the report, adding that they were even
more so towards "those who didn't make it".
Schettino, who was dubbed captain coward in the
media for abandoning the ship before all his passengers were
evacuated in Italy's worst postwar maritime disaster, has been
allowed to remain free, pending his appeal against the
conviction.
The former captain claims his image and actions have been
distorted by investigators and the media, arguing that he saved
lives by steering the ship close to Giglio as it took on water.
He was the only person to stand trial for the disaster
after a number of crew members and company staff reached plea
bargains with prosecutors.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
