Archivi tag: greek

NORMAN ATLANTIC: sentenza di condanna greca, Giustizia negata – Greece sentence, Justice is not served

Oggi è stata raggiunta una prima decisione di colpevolezza nel caso del disastro marittimo della nave NORMAN ATLANTIC, il processo penale in Grecia ha raggiunto un verdetto di primo grado ed il tribunale ellenico ha stabilito all’unanimità che cinque degli 11 imputati sono colpevoli e ha condannato il manager e CEO dell’ANEK ad un totale di 16 anni di reclusione ciascuno, e una condanna a 14 anni per l’equipaggio di ANEK a bordo della nave, 6 anni ed a 5 anni e 2 mesi rispettivamente ai due ufficiali di marina responsabili delle operazioni di carico.

E’ stata confermata la piena consapevolezza dei responsabili della compagnia ANEK sulle pratiche di carico dei mezzi e contrarie alle norme marittime, come consentire che i camion refrigerati mantenessero i motori a scoppio accesi anche durante la navigazione perché non era garantito a sufficienza l’allaccio alla rete elettrica della nave per tutti gli autotreni imbarcati in sovrannumero. Avrebbero potuto impedire l’evento e proteggere i passeggeri, ma non l’hanno fatto, continuando per anni a guadagnare senza riguardo alla sicurezza della vita umana.

Δίκη «Norman Atlantic»: 16 έτη φυλάκιση στους υπεύθυνους της ΑΝΕΚ

La Grecia sembra quindi aver battuto sul tempo i giudici italiani di Bari, dove pende il processo italiano per gli stessi fatti ma che è fermo ancora alle fase preliminari del dibattimento di primo grado, ma non sembra davvero che la legge ellenica abbia saputo fare Giustizia, anzi.

Il nuovo codice penale in Grecia, in vigore da luglio 2019, ha di fatto dimezzato le pene per questi reati, e prevede un massimo di 5 anni di reclusione per omicidio multiplo (prima erano fino a 10) ed il tribunale ha inflitto al presidente e all’amministratore delegato dell’ANEK pene di base di 3 anni per ogni morte e da 2 anni e 18 mesi rispettivamente per i reati di incendio doloso e disturbo del traffico marittimo. Il responsabile dell’ANEK a bordo 18 mesi di reclusione per ogni omicidio e due marinai rispettivamente di 18 mesi e un anno.

QUELLO CHE APPARE INACCETTABILE PER IL NOSTRO ORDINAMENTO E PER I FAMILIARI DELLE VITTIME è che la sentenza greca, con pene al carcere complessivamente fino a 16 anni, secondo la loro legge penale possa essere totalmente convertita in una multa/sanzione economica dagli imputati, che quindi sono stati condannati ma non sconteranno un solo giorno di carcere: 20 euro per ogni giorno di reclusione per il presidente e l’amministratore delegato della compagnia di navigazione, 10 euro al giorno per il responsabile dell’ANEK a bordo e 5 euro al giorno per i due marinai condannati. E la pena è sospesa fino al secondo grado (come avviene anche in Italia).

Ciò significa che l’intera misura della pena detentiva sarà convertita nel pagamento di una multa, una condanna economica; gli imputati, giudicati responsabili della morte di 10 persone a bordo e 19 dispersi a mare, nel disastro avvenuto a causa della grave violazione delle norme di prudenza e del diritto marittimo, non sconteranno in Grecia neanche un giorno di prigione, con una sentenza solo sulla carta a 16 anni.

Infatti a causa del nuovo codice penale greco, tutte le pene sono ricondotte al limite massimo previsto attualmente dalla legge ellenica in caso di omicidio colposo plurimo, ossia 5 anni.

Noi avvocati e cittadini italiani dovremo svolgere molte riflessioni sul significato e la portata della sentenza greca che, in ogni caso, riguarda solo minimamente gli imputati nel processo italiano sul naufragio del NORMAN ATLANTIC, ma una cosa è certa, i passeggeri che si sono costituiti parte civile nel processo penale italiano, di cui la maggior parte sono di nazionalità greca, possono contare nel nostro paese su una macchina della giustizia sicuramente più lenta e complicata, ma certamente più rigorosa. In Grecia non si può dire moralmente che Giustizia è stata fatta.

Il nostro ordinamento penale non permette di cavarsela così facilmente con la conversione in denaro di una pena detentiva così importante; in Italia per condanne superiori a 4 anni si va in carcere, così come nel caso della condanna a 16 anni che il comandante Schettino sta in galera da circa 3 anni per il disastro della Concordia.

Visto che il nuovo codice penale greco ha dimezzato le pene e consente di convertire le condanne detentive in una somma di danaro, 20 euro al giorno una condanna a 16 anni per la morte di 10 persone e 19 dispersi, si trasforma comodamente (16 anni -> 5844 giorni x 20 euro) in 116.880 euro e zero giorni di carcere, mentre con la riduzione a 5 anni la somma scende a 36.500 euro.

Ci lamentiamo spesso della legge penale italiana, ma questa roba qui per un avvocato delle vittime dei disastri è davvero una sentenza sconvolgente, non si tratta di giustizialismo, ma di fronte ad omicidi plurimi e la prova raggiunta su una pratica aziendale votata alla massimizzazione dei profitti, convertire 16 anni di carcere in una multa a 20 euro al giorno, vuol dire negare ai familiari delle vittime una condanna anche solo morale: e come sempre diciamo non c’è pace senza Giustizia.

<p class="has-drop-cap" value="<amp-fit-text layout="fixed-height" min-font-size="6" max-font-size="72" height="80">Today a first guilty decision was reached in the case of the NORMAN ATLANTIC maritime disaster, as the criminal trial in Greece reached a first instance verdict and the Greek court unanimously ruled that five of the 11 defendants are guilty and sentenced the manager and CEO of ANEK to a total of 16 years in prison each, and a sentence of 14 years for ANEK's crew on board the ship, 6 years and 5 years and 2 months respectively to the two naval officers responsible of loading operations.Today a first guilty decision was reached in the case of the NORMAN ATLANTIC maritime disaster, as the criminal trial in Greece reached a first instance verdict and the Greek court unanimously ruled that five of the 11 defendants are guilty and sentenced the manager and CEO of ANEK to a total of 16 years in prison each, and a sentence of 14 years for ANEK’s crew on board the ship, 6 years and 5 years and 2 months respectively to the two naval officers responsible of loading operations.

The full awareness of the managers of the ANEK company on the loading practices of the vehicles and contrary to maritime regulations, such as allowing the refrigerated trucks to keep the internal combustion engines running even during navigation, was confirmed because of lack of the connection to the the ship’s electrical network for all excessively loaded trucks. They could have prevented the event and protect the passengers, but they did not, continuing to earn money for years regardless of the safety of human life.

Δίκη «Norman Atlantic»: 16 έτη φυλάκιση στους υπεύθυνους της ΑΝΕΚ

Greece therefore seems to have beaten the Italian judges of Bari on time, where the Italian trial is pending for the same facts and is still at the preliminary stage of the first instance trial, but it does not really seem that Hellenic law has been able to do justice, rather.

The new criminal code in Greece, in force since July 2019, has effectively halved the penalties for these crimes, and provides for a maximum of 5 years of imprisonment for multiple homicides (previously up to 10) and the court has imposed on the president and to the CEO of ANEK basic penalties of 3 years for each death and 2 years and 18 months respectively for the offenses of arson and disturbance of maritime traffic. The ANEK manager on board 18 months’ imprisonment for each murder and two sailors of 18 months and one year respectively.

WHAT APPEARS UNACCEPTABLE FOR OUR LEGAL SYSTEM AND FOR THE FAMILIES OF THE VICTIMS is that the Greek sentence, with a total prison sentence of up to 16 years, according to their criminal law can be totally converted into a fine / economic sanction by the defendants, which therefore were sentenced but will not serve a single day in prison: € 20 for each day of imprisonment for the president and CEO of the shipping company, € 10 per day for the ANEK manager on board and € 5 per day for the two condemned sailors. And the sentence is suspended up to the second degree (as is also the case in Italy).

This means that the entire measure of the prison sentence will be converted into the payment of a fine, an economic sentence; the defendants, found responsible for the deaths of 10 people on board and 19 missing at sea, in the disaster that occurred due to the serious violation of the rules of prudence and maritime law, will not serve even a day in prison in Greece, with a sentence only on card to 16 years.

In fact, due to the new Greek penal code, all penalties are reduced to the maximum limit set now by the Hellenic law in case of multiple manslaughter, i.e. 5 years.

We Italian lawyers and citizens will have to carry out many reflections on the meaning and scope of the Greek sentence which, in any case, only minimally concerns the defendants in the Italian trial on the sinking of the NORMAN ATLANTIC, but one thing is certain, the passengers who filed as civil parties in the Italian criminal trial, most of which are of Greek nationality, in our country can count on a system of justice that is certainly slower and more complicated, but for sure also more rigorous. In Greece one cannot morally say that Justice has been served.

Our criminal legal system does not allow them defendants to get away so easily with the conversion of such an important prison sentence into money; in Italy for sentences of over 4 years you go to prison, as well as in the case of the 16-year sentence that captain Schettino has been serving in prison for about 3 years now, for the Concordia disaster.

Given that the new Greek penal code has halved the sentences and allows prison convictions to be converted into a sum of money, 20 euros a day on a 16-year sentence for the death of 10 people and 19 missing, it is easily transformed (16 years > 5,844 days x 20 euros = 116,880 euros) and zero days in prison, while with the reduction to 5 years the sum drops to 36,500 euros.

We often complain about Italian criminal law, but this stuff here for a mass disaster victim’s lawyer is really a shocking sentence, it is not about justicialism, but facing multiple homicides and the proof achieved on a corporate practice devoted to maximizing profits , converting 16 years of prison into a fine of 20 euros a day, means denying the families of the victims even for a moral sentence: and as we always say there is no peace without justice.


The investigation phase has been closed; Norman Atlantic approaches the criminal trial

norman atlantic chiuse indagini preliminari processo penale
A big step towards the criminal trial that will bring finally light and justice to the Norman Atlantic marittime disaster; great satisfaction from our legal team, not only because we are approaching the trial, but also because the Public Prosecutor has clearly listened to the complaints of our clients, adding to the accused list all the crew members who did not provide the necessary assistance to passengers. There was no loading plan for the heavy trucks, and the fire started to develop from one of the refrigerated trucks, because there were not enough power outlets and the truck drivers kept their engines running to cool the goods. A hypothesis that had already made its way in the days following the fire, as a malpractice prohibited by navigation regulations. And there were other and numerous negligence, both in the risk assessment and during the evacuation, with extreme disorganization and several crew members who left the ship way before the passengers were safe. Now the Bari prosecutor, after 3 years close investigations, adding all the crew members to the accused, mainly for our multiple reports of severe complaints from our clients for abandonment of the ship; 30 people and two companies, Visemar and Anek Lines, now face the criminale trial for the shipwreck of the Norman Atlantic ferry, which took place off the Albanian coast on the night of December 28 2014 after a fire broke out on board that cost the lives of 31 people, including some Syrian migrants, even minors, and the wounding of others 64.

All the subjects under investigation are liable for involuntary cooperation in shipwreck, culpable homicide and multiple culpable injuries. Numerous violations on security and the navigation code are also contested. To the original 18 people already in the file of the p.p’s office of Bari, Ettore Cardinali and Federico Perrone Capano, they added others 12: they are the legal representative of Visemar, society owner of the ferry, Carlo Visentini, the two legal representatives of the Greek Anek Lines, charterer of the Norman Atlantic, in addition to the commander Argilio Giacomazzi and 26 crew members. 6 of them also contend that they had left the ship avoiding to help passengers way before they were safe. A series of negligences emerged in the expert’s report of the Port Authority of Bari, above all on the assessment of the risks and on the organization of the operations of evacuation of the ship, which would have caused the shipwreck and the death of some passengers. About the causes of the shipwreck we already ran trough a probationary incident phase that lasted about two years with numerous accesses aboard the wreck, moored since February 2015 in the port of Bari, and still subjected to seizure.

The experts report about a ineffective firefighting system and unprepared crew. The fire supposedly started from a refrigerated truck running a diesel engine during navigation. Furthermore, according to the accusatory hypothesis, a plan to load the 128 TIR on board (of which about 60 refrigerators) was missing, arranged on the bridges in an approximate manner, without respecting the distance between the vehicles and the availability of elettric power, forcing hauliers to keep the engines running. And both the captain and carrier companies were full aware of this malpractice. We are also waiting to call accusation about the reason why the captain and the shipping companies have decided to prevent the intervention of the Albanian tugs to wait the arrival from Bari of the rescue, forcing the passengers to fear for their life two day on a ship adrift in flames and in the stormy sea.

In the next few weeks we will update all our clients with more detail on the following steps, about the civil case running in Bari, relations between civil and criminal proceedings, and strategies of our team in order to bring justice and compensation to all.

Seizure of trucks close to an end -dissequestro dei TIR vicino

The end of the seizure for 26 trucks, cargo and commercial vehicles escaped from the flames but blocked in Bari for over a year in the Norman Atlantic lower deck, and then after the unloading last week, immediately placed under seizure for the debts (about 2 million euro) unpaid by Visemar (owner of the ship) to the maritime rescue company (the Fratelli Barretta of Brindisi), is near, after a legal dispute between the carrier and the maritime rescue company. A settlement agreement between the parties has just been found, and then decays the reason that led to the seizure of all that was transported in the garage of the ship, including trucks, which at this point can be freed and returned to their rightful owners, mainly greek.

UPDATE 13.04.2016: the lawyers representing the tug boat company have informed that they renounced the seizure after a signed agreement with the Greek company Anek, charterer of the ferry.


Il dissequestro dei 26 TIR e veicoli industriali scampati alle fiamme ma bloccati per oltre un anno nei garage del Norman Atlantic, e poi dopo lo sbarco nelle settimane scorse, posti sotto sequestro conservativo a Bari per i debiti (circa due milioni di euro) non pagati da Visemar (proprietaria della nave) alla società di salvataggio marittimo (la Fratelli Barretta di Brindisi), è vicino, dopo una vertenza giudiziaria tra il vettore e la società di salvataggio marittimo. Un accordo transattivo fra le parti è appena stato trovato, e quindi decade il motivo che aveva portato al sequestro conservativo di tutto ciò che era trasportato nei garage della nave, compresi i camion, che a questo punto possono essere liberati e restituiti ai legittimi proprietari, in gran parte greci.

AGGIORNAMENTO 13.04.2016: i legali della società di traghettatori hanno fatto sapere di aver rinunciato agli effetti del sequestro dopo un accordo sottoscritto con la società greca Anek, noleggiatrice del traghetto.