An appeals court in Hungary's capital city of Budapest has ordered that the case on the collision between a river cruise ship and a sightseeing vessel in 2019 be retried as one of the presiding judges in that case had reportedly been biased.
In the earlier case, a first-instance court found 68-year-old Ukrainian national Yuri Chaplinsky guilty of negligence in relation to the May 29, 2019 collision between the cruise ship Viking Sigyn and the sightseeing vessel Hableány in the Danube River in Budapest.
Chaplinsky was captain of Viking Sigyn on the said date, when the ship struck and severely damaged the smaller Hableány. The incident resulted in the deaths of 25 South Korean tourists and both crewmembers on Hableány while no trace has yet been found of a South Korean passenger who was also on the tour boat when it sank.
Only seven of Hableány's passengers survived the tragedy, having suffered only minor injuries associated with hypothermia.
Mr Chaplinsky, who had said he was "deeply sorry" for the incident, received a prison sentence of five years and six months.
However, the appeals court alleges that a judge who was also part of the sentencing body seemed unable to make impartial decisions and therefore should have been recused from the case.
The appeals court added that a retrial is necessary, as the lack of impartiality is in contravention of prodecural regulations.
The accused will remain under criminal supervision pending the final decision on the retrial.