Fishermen killings: Kerala High Court grants bail to two Italian marines

Mangalore Today News Network/ NDTV

Thiruvananthapuram, May 30, 2012 : Thiruvananthapuram: Two Italian marines who are accused of killing two Indian fishermen off the coast of Kerala in February this year have been granted bail by the Kerala High Court.

 

The marines - Latore Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone - have been asked to furnish a surety of Rs. 1 crore. They have been asked to surrender their passport and cannot leave Kerala without the permission of the court. They also have to report to the police everyday.
 
Mr Massimiliano and Mr Girone were arrested on February 19 and have since been lodged at the Central Prison at Thiruvananthapuram. They had allegedly shot dead Indian fishermen Valentine Jalastine and Ajesh Bi on February 15 mistaking them for pirates. They were on board Italian ship ’Enrica Lexie’ at the time of the incident.

Reacting to the court order, Kerala Home Minister T Radhakrishnan said the state government won’t oppose the bail, at least for now. "I don’t know the details of the conditions imposed. We were strongly opposing the bail because may be the marines would not be available for trial in India. So we wanted that their presence should definitely be guaranteed. We stand our ground. It is a brutal murder by Italian marines. Out of court settlement is not possible in this case," he added.
 
The incident has caused a huge diplomatic row between India and Italy. Italy insists that the incident occurred in international waters, and hence the marines should be tried in Italian courts rather than in India. India has so far not agreed to this.

Yesterday, the Kerala High Court dismissed a petition filed by the Italian government seeking quashing of the FIRs against the two marines. The court also slapped a cost of Rs. 1 lakh on it.

Dismissing the petition, Justice PS Gopinathan said that the Kerala Police has the jurisdiction to register the case since the incident occurred in the territorial waters falling within India’s Exclusive Economic Zone making the Indian penal laws applicable.

Earlier this month on May 19, a court in Kollam had rejected the bail application of the marines.

A few days prior to this, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti had talked to his Indian counterpart Dr Manmohan Singh. Mr Monti, who has been pressing for the transfer of the marines to Italy, is believed to have conveyed his concern over matter. The move was seen a bid to mount pressure on India.