Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
13 Jan 2012: Costa Concordia runs aground
The captain of the wrecked Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia broke into sobs as he made a final appeal to judges ahead of a verdict in his trial.
Capt Francesco Schettino said he had been made a scapegoat for the accident.
Thirty-two people died in January 2012 when the ship was steered too close to the island of Giglio and hit rocks.
The prosecution wants Capt Schettino jailed for 26 years for multiple manslaughter, but the captain denies all the charges against him.
Speaking on the last day of his trial, the skipper said his head had been “offered for sacrifice” in order to safeguard economic interests.
“I have spent the last three years in a media meat grinder,” he said. “It is difficult to call what I have been living through a ‘life’.”
He added: “All the responsibility has been loaded on to me with no respect for the truth or for the memory of the victims.”
Capt Schettino was unable to finish his statement, saying “enough” before slumping back into his seat.
Ripped open
The judges in the 19-month trial are due to retire on Wednesday to consider a verdict.
Investigators have severely criticised Capt Schettino’s handling of the disaster, accusing him of bringing the 290m-long vessel too close to shore when it struck rocks off the Tuscan island of Giglio.
The trial, in the city of Grosseto, has heard how the ship was ripped open on the rocks and more than 4,000 passengers and crew were forced into a chaotic evacuation.
Capt Schettino has also been accused of compounding his crime by abandoning his vessel and saving himself while passengers were in danger – earning him the title “Captain Coward” in the Italian media.
‘Collective failure’
Prosecutors have asked for Capt Schettino to be jailed on charges of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship with passengers and crew still on board.
Throughout the trial, his lawyers have argued that it was a collective failure and others should share the blame for the disaster.
He has spoken of “commercial reasons” for taking the liner so close to the coast in an attempt to please his passengers and those ashore.
He has rejected rumours that he had wanted to impress his lover, Domnica Cemortan, who was with him at the helm.
BBC