Compensation denied, again. The fourth civil section of the Court of Appeal of Florence has once again rejected the request for compensation made by the families of the victims against the Ministries of Defense and Transport for the death of those who were on the Moby Prince ferry on the evening of 10 April 1991 at off the port of Livorno, when the tragedy occurred.
The judges of second instance confirmed the court's ruling which had denied the compensation claim due to statute of limitations. The new decision has left the relatives of the 140 victims "deeply saddened and disappointed". "We respect this ruling but it remains difficult for us to understand its motivation and validity, even on a legal level", say in a note Luchino Chessa, president of the association 10 Aprile-Family Victims Moby Prince and Nicola Rosetti, head of Association 140.
«Only after the conclusions of the Senate parliamentary commission of inquiry in January 2018, which overturned the incomplete sentences of the Court of Livorno», continues the document, «we had certainty about facts that had been decidedly denied until then, such as survival times of our loved ones on board the ferry, longer than half an hour, the rescue services that were never activated towards the ferry but only towards the Eni oil tanker, Agip Abruzzo, and the absence of fog in the Livorno bay. On the basis of the criminal sentences, which excluded these facts, it was in no way possible to activate a request for compensation."
But it's not over: "We are also very saddened by the sentencing to legal costs in favor of the two ministries."
Chessa and Rosetti then state that «it is incomprehensible to us that the commission of inquiry approved unanimously two months ago by the Montecitorio Chamber is not yet operational. It is necessary to complete the work of the commissions of inquiry of the last two legislatures as soon as possible. As far as we are concerned, despite these obvious judicial short circuits, we will continue our civic commitment so that paradoxical situations like this never happen again, for anyone."
(Unioneonline)
