Spain Prestige oil spill disaster case in court
BBC
The trial has begun in northern Spain of the captain of the
Prestige oil tanker that sank in 2002, causing the country's worst
environmental disaster.
Apostolos Mangouras, who is Greek, is being tried with two other
crew members and a Spanish official in A Coruna.
Some 50,000 tonnes of oil leaked into the Atlantic when the
Prestige broke up off the north coast, polluting thousands of miles of
coastline.
Lawyers took nearly eight years to investigate the disaster.
The case has taken a further two years to reach trial.
Investigators said it was complicated by the range of
nationalities involved. The ship flew under the Bahamas flag, but was insured
in UK as part of a Swiss fleet with a largely Greek crew.
It is expected that Tuesday's hearing will be dominated by
procedural questions, with the accused unlikely to take the stand until next
month.
Prison term sought
Mr Mangouras is accused of causing environmental damage and
disregarding the law.
The tanker's Greek chief engineer, Nikolaos Argyropoulos, is
also accused, along with Filipino first mate Irineo Maloto, who is not in Spanish
custody.
The fourth defendant is Jose Luis Lopez-Sors who, as head of the
Spanish merchant navy at the time, allegedly ordered the ship out to sea when
it was losing fuel.
Prosecutors are calling for a 12-year prison sentence for Mr
Mangouras, should he be found guilty.
Fishermen and local authorities affected by the spill are also
demanding around 2.2bn euros (£1.8bn) in damages.
Court documents are believed to put the total damage from the
spill at nearly 4bn euros.
The Bahamas-flagged Prestige was owned by a Liberian-based
company called Mare Shipping and chartered by a Swiss-based oil trader called
Crown Resources.