Prosecutors said Monday that they want Francesco Schettino, former captain of the Costa Concordia jailed for 2,697 years. They want him sent back to a regular jail, as he currently remains under house arrest.
He is charged with multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship.
Seventeen people lost their lives, and 15 others are still missing after Schettino changed course and crashed the ocean liner onto rocks. At the time he was carrying out a 'sail by' salute, designed to impress crew and friends.
In court Monday, prosecutors accused the captain of abandoning ship, leaving hundreds still onboard while he reached dry land in a lifeboat.
He had been allowed house arrest near Naples in the home he shares with his wife and daughter, but today, in a three hour closed door hearing, an appeals court judge heard prosecutors argue that he should be sent back to jail. At the Florence hearing, they argued that he might interfere with evidence, and the fact that he fled his ship raises the possiblity he might run.
Investigator Francesco Versuio is seeking the following:
- 15 years for multiple manslaughter
- 10 years for causing a disaster
- 8 years for every passenger abandoned
- 8 years for every passenger who died
They are asking for all terms to run consecutively. They are claiming that 34 people were killed (current figures show 17 killed and 15 missing), and 300 passengers abandoned by Schettino, making the total sentence 2,697 years.
The request was made in the form of a 12 page indictment given to a judge. Schettino's lawyers argued that he should be released.
The hearing was adjourned and no decision will be made until Friday.
It was also announced on Monday that the Concordia will be refloated and moved to another location before being cut up for scrap. Environmental concerns, as well as the fact that the ship continues to shift on the rocks near Giglio, Italy influenced the decision. Read more here.
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