Captain of Capsized Costa Concordia Sentenced to 16 Years

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ITALY — Captain Francesco Schettino has been found guilty of manslaughter and other charges related to the January 2012 shipwreck of the Costa Concordia, an Italian judge announced Wednesday night.

The captain of the shipwrecked Costa Concordia cruise liner, accused of multiple manslaughter and other serious crimes, made a final appeal to a Grosseto court for clemency on Wednesday before the judges retired to deliberate a verdict.

In January 2012, the Concordia was taken off its planned route and steered close to the Italian island of Giglio, where it hit rocks and partially capsized. Of the 4,229 people who were on board, 32 died.

“I feel like saying – and perhaps it has not been understood – that on January 13, 2012, I partly died too,” Francesco Schettino said in a final hearing in Grosseto, central Italy.

The 54-year-old, who is the sole defendant in the trial, insisted that he had been made a scapegoat while the responsibilities of other crew members and of Concordia owners Costa Crociere were overlooked.

He also complained of character defamation by the media.

[Displayed with permission from dpa German Press Agency]

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