The crippled Costa Concordia lies on its side off the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, a stubborn reminder of the 2012 shipwreck that claimed 32 lives. On Tuesday, the luxury cruise liner's captain went on trial here as the sole defendant in a case that may take months or longer to resolve - making an end to the drama even more elusive.
Francesco Schettino is charged with manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing the shipwreck. He took his place at the defendant table at the edge of the orchestra pit in Grosseto's Teatro Moderno, a 1,000-seat theatre that is serving as a more spacious substitute for the courtroom of this Tuscan provincial capital because so many survivors and victims' relatives were expected to attend.
Instead, aside from journalists and a panel of judges, at a table on the stage, the theatre was virtually empty. A nationwide, eightday lawyers' strike had generated wide expectations that Judge Giovanni Puliatti would immediately adjourn the opening hearing. It didn't quite happen that way: Puliatti intoned a nearly hour-long roll call of lawyers' names before calling it a day - setting the next session for July 17.
It was the latest example of Italy's slow-moving justice system. But what has riled survivors even more is the lack of any other defendants in the trial, frustrating hopes of learning why the sophisticated ship struck the jagged reef, and why everyone wasn't safely evacuated.
One of the lawyers representing survivors, Daniele Bocciolini, said what his clients wanted was simple: "We are asking for justice," he told Sky TG24 TV.
Schettino "is the only defendant, but he is not the only one responsible," said Bocciolini. "There is still a need to shed light on what happened."
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