The whole world has now been treated
to a recording of a conversation between the coastguard at Livorno and the
captain of the Costa Concordia, the coastguard urging the captain to return to
his ship. It is not hard to tell what people’s attitude will have been.
What I should like to know is
who released this recording, and why. And in return for what? Why didn’t the
police and the coastguard, aware that there would be an investigation and the
possibility of criminal proceedings, not scoop up the evidence and keep it safe
for use in the case?
In any sensible legal system
the people now in jail would be those who released the tape, charged with
interfering with the course of justice.
How, with the whole world
thus set against him, can Captain Schettino possibly get a fair trial?
There is another aspect to
this which I find disturbing. This ugly tale will reinforce the stereotype of the
‘typical Italian’, which started after the Second World War, as a coward. The BBC
even reports with a sneer that Schettino called his mother from dry land. This
stereotype detracts from the heroism and effectiveness of the Italian rescue
teams, whose divers searched the blacked-out wreck for survivors, even though
it was perched precariously on the rock and any movement would have put their
own lives in danger.
This is a bad business.
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