The preliminary hearing on 2 February 2024 lasted a little over one hour.

Defense lawyers as well as two lawyers for the prosecution were present. No defendants were in attendance and there was also no lawyer present from the State Legal Service of Palermo (Avvocatura dello Stato), assigned to represent the Ministry of the Interior in its capacity as a civil party in the proceedings (see report from 25 February 2023).

The judge announced that both of the two witnesses summoned for examination had been successfully contacted. The witness that the court had not been able to reach as of the last hearing (see report from 26 January 2024) requested that he be allowed to participate remotely via Microsoft Teams. He claimed that travel to Trapani to attend the hearing in person would exacerbate his health problems and potentially pose a risk to his physical integrity. While permission for remote participation had been granted to the first witness, who previously informed the court that she would be working aboard a ship on the dates for which she had been summoned (see report from 12 January 2024), defense counsel did not give their consent for the second witness to also appear remotely. Hence, the judge confirmed the summons for his in-person attendance, noting that should the witness fail to appear he would be physically delivered to the court at a future date.  

The judge then informed all parties, on the record, that on 30 January 2024, he authorized Iuventa defense lawyer Canestrini to acquire the criminal record certificates of the two summoned witnesses.

Next, the judge addressed an incomplete expert assignment ordered in the previous hearing (see report from 26 January 2024). He noted that the experts who issued the reports connected to the transcripts of communications between the Italian MRCC and ships on scene for several search and rescue incidents under examination had failed to adjust the indexing of their reports needed to understand which transcripts corresponded to which dates and times. Visibly frustrated, the judge spent a few minutes attempting to sort through and adjust the indexing himself. He quickly realized, however, that it would take too much time. Lamenting to the clerk that his tone could not be conveyed in the written transcript, the judge ordered that the experts complete the assigned task within six days, meaning by 8 February 2024, or they would not receive full compensation for their work.  

With respect to the upcoming hearing dates, the judge asked the defense lawyers to confirm their attendance for the 9 February hearing in light of the nation-wide lawyers’ strike scheduled for that day. As several defense lawyers confirmed their participation in the strike, the judge announced that the hearing on 9 February would only convene briefly to acknowledge the strike and announce the hearing’s postponement to the following day. The judge then confirmed the schedule as set in the previous hearing: On 10 February, the two witnesses for the prosecution will be examined. If their examinations finish in time, then the former Captain of the Vos Hestia will also be examined on the same day. If the examinations of the two witnesses cannot be completed on 10 February, then the hearing will be extraordinarily adjourned to Sunday, 11 February. If time constraints do not allow the former Captain of the Vos Hestia to be examined on 10 February, then his interrogation will occur on Monday, 12 February.  

The next preliminary hearing is scheduled to take place on 10 February 2024.