ROME — Both the prosecution and defence are appealing in the case of the Italian captain convicted earlier this year of the 2012 ********* of the *************** cruise liner off the Tuscan coast.

An Italian court in February convicted Francesco Schettino of the ************ ****** of 32 passengers and crew members, of causing the ********* by ********* with a reef near tiny Giglio island and of abandoning the ******** vessel with people still aboard. It sentenced him to 16 years in prison. Prosecutors sought 26 years.

While the prosecutors hope a Florence appeals court will stiffen the sentence, defence lawyer Saverio Senese said Monday he’ll argue that the court didn’t correctly evaluate evidence in Schettino’s favour.

Schettino is free pending appeals. The appeal trial is likely to start in 2016.