Italian Marines Jailed

An Indian court on Monday ordered the two Italian marines currently being investigated for the killing of two Indian fishermen at sea to be held in jail.

India/Italy: Rome protests ‘unacceptable’ imprisonment

Rome, 5 March (AKI) – The Italian government on Monday called the decision by a judge to transfer two Italian soldiers accused of killing a pair of Indian fishermen to a prison is “unacceptable.”

“In light of the status of our two soldiers and the extreme sensibility of the matter for the Italian authorities, the families and the opinion of the public and Parliament,” the head of the Italian foreign service Giampiero Massolo conveyed to Saurabh Kumar , the deputy chief of mission at Embassy of India in Rome Italy’s “firm request that every effort is given to quickly find the our soldiers appropriate lodgings.

An Indian judge on Monday order that two Italian marines accused of killing a pair of fishermen last month be transferred to a prison in Trivandrum.
Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone had been detained in a guest house in the southern Kerala state of Kochi following the 15 February shooting.
The court turned down Italy’s plea that they be given all privileges in prison enjoyed by military officials as Italian government still considered them as military officials, the Times of India newspaper reported.

However, the court ordered the prison to give them separate quarters from other inmates.

Latorre and Girone were part of a security detail on the Naples, Italy-based Enrica Lexie oil tanker guarding it from pirates they fired shots in the direction of a fishing boat they mistook for a pirate vessel. Two Indian fishermen were killed but the Italians claimed they only fired warning shots.

The incident has provoked a diplomatic spat between Indian and Italy. Rome insists the vessel was in international waters at the time of the shooting, giving it jurisdiction over the case. India claims it occurred within its territory.
Source: Adnkronos