Considering the aircraft ditched due to a fuel gauging problem following installation of an incorrect part number, it seems bizarre that the flight crew bore the brunt of the punishment.
Discuss.
I checked the coverage in Italian media. Apparently the position of the court is that it is not the fault of the F/C if the fuel gauge was incorrectly installed but they could have handled the resulting ditching better, saving some lives. The arguments are that they did not warn the pax to prepare for ditching, that they landed with a tailwind across the swells, that the ROD was too high. In addition it was later determined that they could have reached Punta Raisa airport from where they were.
To the public these perhaps sound reasonable arguments, but there is clearly plenty of room for appeal -- especially the flawed logic about what might have been done. A better lawyer might have helped.
For Italian speakers, there is a detailed summary of this in "ATR, Le Cause della Tragedia" from La Repubblica at
Atr72, le cause della tragedia | Palermo la Repubblica.it