The presumed captain of a migrant boat that sank off Libya with the loss of more than 700 lives has appeared before an Italian judge after prosecutors asked he be charged with homicide and people-trafficking.
Mohammed Alì Malek, 27, has denied he was in charge of the heavily overloaded fishing boat which capsized shortly before midnight on Saturday with hundreds of African and Bangladeshi migrants locked in its lower decks.
Prosecutors say survivors have identified him as the boat's captain but his lawyer, Massimo Ferrante, said Mr Malek would tell judges he was a passenger on the vessel.
The Tunisian showed little emotion as the preliminary hearing began in a court in the Sicilian city of Catania where he is likely to come face to face with a number of survivors who will be giving testimony.
A 25-year-old Syrian, Mahmud Bikhit, who prosecutors believe was a crew member, has denied involvement and accused Mr Malek of being in charge of the vessel when it collided with a merchant ship coming to its aid and capsized.
He may face charges of favouring clandestine immigration but not of multiple homicide.
Only 28 people survived the disaster, believed to be the heaviest loss of life on the Mediterranean in decades and which underlined the scale of the migrant crisis facing Europe.
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