ROME, April 10 (UPI) -- Italy's highest court ruled Tuesday the captain of the foundered cruise ship Costa Concordia must remain under home confinement.
The Supreme Court or Court of Cassation rejected appeals by lawyers for Francesco Schettino and by prosecutors, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. The defense argued Schettino should be released from the constraints of house arrest, while prosecutors wanted him jailed until he is charged or cleared by investigators.
The Costa Concordia capsized Jan. 13 after striking rocks off the island of Giglio in Tuscany. Thirty bodies have been recovered, and 25 identified, while another two people are missing and believed dead.
Investigators say Schettino made an unscheduled alteration in course to sail close to the island. He says the change was ordered by the cruise line.
Schettino, of Meta di Sorrento, has been under house arrest since January and has not been formally charged. He is under investigation on charges that could include manslaughter, failing to report the shipwreck to the coast guard and environmental pollution.
