NEW DELHI: Two Italian marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen will still be tried in India, the Foreign Ministry said yesterday, a day after the government dropped a plan to prosecute the men under a tough anti-piracy law.
The decision underscored that the two-year-old case that has frayed ties between the two countries was far from over — despite Monday’s move to drop the more serious charges.
“They will still be tried in India, under Indian law,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin told Reuters. “It is not a bilateral issue. It is about trying to ensure that those who are charged with crimes against Indian nationals will be held accountable under Indian law.”
Charges have yet to be filed in the case, not unusual in India’s notoriously slow legal system, which spurred Italy to approach the Supreme Court last month demanding a ruling for the marines to return home. Italy also recalled its ambassador to New Delhi last week in protest at the delays.
The sailors, part of a military security team protecting a privately owned cargo ship, say they mistook the fishermen for pirates and fired warning shots into the water during the incident in February 2012, off the coast of Kerala state. Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone do not admit to killing anyone. They are on bail, but cannot leave India.
REUTERS
