(MENAFN- QNA) An Italian court ruled the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship guilty of causing the shipwreck three years ago and sentenced him to 16 years in prison.
Captain Francesco Schettino, 54, was found guilty multiple charges of manslaughter that led to deaths of 32 people on the ill-fated ship. He was also found guilty of causing a disaster and abandoning ship before all 4,200 were evacuated from the stricken vessel, which went down near the Italian island of Giglio on January 13, 2012.
The judge said he will not go to prison until the appeals process is finished.
Schettino said the reef wasn't on his nautical charts, and his lawyers had sought acquittal for charges.
Prosecutors had argued that his failure to promptly order an evacuation of the ship was the sole reason 32 people died. Prosecutor Alessandro Leopizzi had urged the court for convictions on all counts, describing Schettino's conduct as "reprehensible" and calling for a 26-year prison sentence.
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