ITALY: Former Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino and Moldovan dancer Domnica Cemortan arrive at court as the trial continues

Record ID: 597429

  • Title: ITALY: Former Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino and Moldovan dancer Domnica Cemortan arrive at court as the trial continues
  • Date: 28th October 2013
  • Summary: GROSSETO, ITALY (OCTOBER 28, 2013) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF TEATRO MODERNO THEATRE WHERE TRIAL HEARINGS TAKE PLACE VARIOUS OF POLICE OUTSIDE THEATRE SIGNBOARD FOR TEATRO MODERNO VARIOUS OF POLICE AND OTHERS STANDING OUTSIDE THEATRE NOTE OUTSIDE THEATRE ANNOUNCING TRIAL DETAILS VARIOUS OF MEDIA SETTING UP OUTSIDE THEATRE MORE OF POLICE AND CAMERA OPERATORS OUTSIDE THEATRE VARIOUS OF FORMER COSTA CONCORDIA CAPTAIN FRANCESCO SCHETTINO ARRIVING AT BACK ENTRANCE OF THEATRE BY CAR SCHETTINO ENTERING THEATRE CAMERA OPERATORS (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) FRANCESCO SCHETTINO'S DEFENCE LAWYER, FRANCESCO PEPE, SAYING: "As I keep telling you, for us, the testimonies are not of much interest because we have the ship's black box which supports all our arguments. So, the testimonies in our opinion are useful only up to a certain point, they can add some details but essentially, what happened is already clear from the details we can read from the black box." MOLDOVAN DANCER APPEARING IN COURT AS WITNESS, DOMNICA CEMORTAN, OUTSIDE THEATRE CEMORTAN'S LAWYER TELLING MEDIA TO BACK OFF CEMORTAN WALKING, LAWYER HEARD SAYING OFF CAMERA SHE WILL TESTIFY TOMORROW JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) MOLDOVAN DANCER APPEARING IN COURT AS WITNESS, DOMNICA CEMORTAN, SAYING: "Tomorrow, I will make tomorrow comments. Today I don't make any comments."
  • Embargoed: 12th November 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Crime,Disasters,Transport
  • Reuters ID: LVAAT0PGJRXOEUVAOZFBB5WH238J
  • Story Text: Francesco Schettino, captain of the capsized cruise liner Costa Concordia, arrived on Monday morning (October 28) at a makeshift court room at a Tuscan theatre as the trial on his role in the disaster continues.
    Schettino has been charged with offences including manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship after the 290-metre vessel, carrying more than 4,000 passengers and crew, struck a reef off the island of Giglio and keeled over with the loss of 32 lives on January 13, 2012.
    The court last month called for a new expert examination of the Costa Concordia to seek further evidence related to its sinking, accepting a request from Schettino's lawyers and civil parties.
    The court in Grosseto, Tuscany, wants experts to pay particular attention to the electrical system of the lifts on the vessel, a legal source told Reuters.
    Lawyers for Schettino say emergency generators failed to kick in during the disaster, preventing the lifts from working.
    The court has also agreed to further checks on other aspects such as the ship's watertight doors.
    However, arriving for Monday's hearing, Schettino's lawyer Francesco Pepe said the defence was confident that the details from the cruise liner's black box alone would support their case.
    "As I keep telling you, for us, the testimonies are not of much interest because we have the ship's black box which supports all our arguments. So, the testimonies in our opinion are useful only up to a certain point, they can add some details but essentially, what happened is already clear from the details we can read from the black box," he said.
    Witnesses called to testify in the trial include Domnica Cemortan, a young Moldovan woman who was at the time a friend of Schettino and was on the liner's bridge when the collision occurred.
    Cemortan on Monday asked the court to be allowed to testify on Tuesday (October 29) morning.
    "Tomorrow, I will make tomorrow comments. Today I don't make any comments," she told reporters outside the theatre.
    The 114,500-tonne Costa Concordia now sits, upright but two-thirds submerged, on specially constructed platforms just off Giglio while salvage crews prepare for it to be towed away next year to be broken up.
    Schettino has admitted that he bears responsibility for the accident as the ship's captain. But he says he is not the only culprit and wants the vessel to be examined for evidence of technical faults that may have contributed to the deaths of the victims.
    Schettino is the only person on trial after four crew members and an official of the ship's operator, Costa Cruises, were sentenced to terms of up to 34 months in prison after pleading guilty last year.
    Costa Cruises, owned by the American-based Carnival Corp, the world's largest cruise operator, itself avoided criminal prosecution by agreeing to pay a 1 million euro ($1.35 million) fine last year. Victims are now seeking damages in a civil case.
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