A Tunisian man accused of being the captain of a migrant boat that sank killing over 700 people has been found guilty of manslaughter by an Italian court and faces 18 years in jail.<br /><br /> Only 28 people survived the disaster in April last year, when Mohammed Ali Malek slammed an overcrowded fishing boat into a merchant vessel coming to its aid off the coast of Libya.<br /><br /> Malek denied being the captain but a court in the city of Catania dismissed his defense. <br /><br /> Of course this is a heavy sentence,” said the lawyer representing the victims Giorgio Forestieri. “It is a symbol for all those suffering these abuses.” <br /><br /> The court also sentenced 26-year-old Syrian Mahmud Bikhit to five years in prison after survivors said he had been Malek’s cabin boy.<br /><br /> “We think we have some strong arguments,” announced Massimo Ferrante, representing Malek. “We will try and work on some of the weaker points of our defence.” <br /><br /> According to the International Organisation for Migration, in the past three years, roughly half a million migrants have arrived on Italian shores and almost 12,000 have died in the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe.<br /><br /> Mohammed Ali Malek is seen at Catania’s tribunal. #Tribunal #Catania #Mohammed #Ali #Malek pic.twitter.com/QFIeNuWdEW— News Complex (@NewsComplex) April 25, 2015<br />
