The trial over delayed rescue operations for a 2023 migrant shipwreck off the coast of Steccato di Cutro in the southern Calabria region began on January 30 in Crotone. Six members of Italy's finance police and coastguard are standing trial for allegedly failing to intervene in the shipwreck of the 'Summer Love' boat on February 26, 2023, which resulted in the death of 94 people, including 35 minors.
Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini and Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi could be called to testify at the trial over alleged delays in rescue operations for the caique 'Summer Love', which crashed on the rocks off the southern town of Cutro and sank on February 26, 2023, causing the death of 94 people, including 35 minors.
The name of the two leading government members was part of the lists presented by attorneys representing survivors and the victims' family members at the first hearing of the trial, held on January 30. The court is set to rule on the admissibility of the testimonies at a later date.
Meanwhile, also on the opening day of the trial, the six defendants said through their lawyers that they planned to testify.
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The defendants of the Cutro trial
The six defendants face charges of multiple involuntary manslaughter and culpable shipwreck, a charge including alleged negligence that could lead to a shipwreck. They are a 57-year-old officer in charge of the operations room of the finance police's air and naval operations department (ROAN) in Vibo Valentia, Calabria; a 51-year-old ROAN commander in Vibo Valentia; a 52-year-old finance police tactical command officer; a 53-year-old finance police's commander of the air and naval group in Taranto, Puglia; a 41-year-old coast guard officer who was on duty in the national operations centre in Rome at the time of the incident, and a 52-year-old employee of Reggio Calabria's port authority.
During the first hearing, which took place in an overcrowded courtroom in Crotone, the court, chaired by Judge Alfonso Scibona, admitted as witnesses a list of 69 people presented by State Attorney Matteo Staccini.
They include the defendants, the Carabinieri police officers who rushed to the beach in front of the location where the shipwreck occurred, and top officers from the Carabinieri's national administrations centre CIAN.
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No cameras allowed during hearings to be held every Tuesday, starting on February 10
The court is also set to rule whether to allow as witnesses the crew members of the EU border agency Frontex's surveillance aircraft 'Eagle One', which had seen the caique the night before the deadly incident, in addition to the two ministers.
Cameras will not be allowed inside the courtroom, even though representatives of the 86 civil plaintiffs protested that the general public has a right to know what happens during the trial, as well as the relatives of victims who live abroad and could have followed the hearings remotely.
Judge Scibona closed the discussion, saying there would be "utmost transparency as journalists can attend, but the official registration remains reserved for ministerial instruments". Prosecutor Domenico Guarascio agreed with the court.
Meanwhile, the trial's schedule was set with hearings to be held every Tuesday afternoon, starting on February 10.
Finally, a request to be excluded from the trial presented by representatives of the CONSAP and Sara insurance companies, on which the prosecution had expressed a favourable opinion, was rejected.