India Summons Italian Envoy On Marines Row

New Delhi, March 13, IRNA -- India on Tuesday demanded the return of two Italian marines to face trial for homicide in the country, rejecting the stand of the Italian government which has gone back on its assurances. Angered by a sudden u-turn by the Italian government which refused the return of two marines, charged with killing of two Indian fishermen last year, Ministry of External Affairs summoned Italian Ambassador Daniele Mancini to convey Indiaˈs position on this matter in the ˈstrongest of termsˈ. ˈI summoned the Italian Ambassador to my office. Basically, what I told him is that the content of the note which was given to us conveying the position of the Government of Italy regarding the two marines is not acceptable to us. ˈThere was an offer of discussions which has been made in a note from the Italians on March 6 that is a separate from the assurance given to the Supreme Court,ˈ Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said. The summoning comes a day after the Italian Foreign Ministry refused the return of the two marines, accusing Indian authorities of violating international rights by detaining the marines and said it was ˈopenˈ to let an international arbitrator to assess the case. The marines --Massimiliano Lattore and Salvatore Girone--charged with homicide for killing two fishermen off the Kerala coast in February last year in an anti-piracy operation, were permitted by the apex court on 22nd of last month to go to Italy for four weeks for voting in election. Last time they were allowed to go home for Christmas holidays after which they returned back to India on expiry of their leave. MEA said as per yesterdayˈs note verbale, Italy has informed that ˈsince a controversy between the two States has been established, the two Italian Marines, Latorre and Girone, will not return to India on the expiration of the permission granted to themˈ. ˈGovernment of India states firmly that it does not agree with the position conveyed by the Italian Government on the return of the two Marines to India,ˈ MEA said. ˈIt was conveyed to him (Mancini) that India expects Republic of Italy as a country that is committed to the rule of law to fulfil the sovereign undertaking given by it to the Supreme Court of India,ˈ it added. MEA said, ˈIt was only following this undertaking that the SC allowed the two Marines to travel to and remain in Italy for a period of four weeks and return to India under the care, supervision and control of the Italian Republic. ˈIt was conveyed to the Italian Ambassador that the Italian Government was obliged to ensure their return to India within the stipulated period as per the terms of the SC order.ˈ Asked about the Italian Ambassadorˈs reaction, Mathai said he took note of the position conveyed to him and said he will convey it to his government. The Italian Foreign Ministry statement yesterday also said Indiaˈs decision to hold trial of the marines in that country violated their rights under International law. Italy has argued that the marines should be tried in their home country. The Italian government said it was open to arriving at a resolution of the dispute through international arbitration or judicial settlement. Earlier, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today termed as ˈunacceptableˈ Italyˈs refusal to send its two marines back to India where they were facing trial for killing two fishermen and said the issue will be taken up with that country. Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister, Salman Khurshid said the government is studying Italyˈs decision, its reasons as also implications. We will study and take a rightful position…..We will take informed position,” he told reporters on the issue which is very sensitive in Kerala politics. Reaction over the issue, Law Minister Ashwani Kumar said the Ministry of External Affairs and his ministry will consult with each other and ˈmake sure that we proceed ahead as effectively as we can.ˈ He observed that ˈthere are complicationsˈ as the issue relates to a foreign country. ˈWe are dealing with foreign diplomats within the framework of the established diplomatic conventions and norms,” Kumar said. At the same time, he emphasized that the government needs to ensure that Indian laws and court processes are ˈrespected by foreignersˈ. The Indian Supreme Court had on February 22 permitted the two marines to travel to their country to cast vote in the February 24 and 25 elections there. The bench said that the marines are only allowed to travel to Italy and remain there and will have to return to India by the end of the four-week deadline. The two marines were on board the Italian vessel ˈEnrica Lexieˈ, when they had allegedly shot dead the two fishermen on February 15, last year. On January 18, the apex court had turned down the Italian governmentˈs plea that the Indian courts had no jurisdiction in the case and had held that the two marines should be tried by the Centre by constituting a special court to conduct their trial. ˈThe incident of firing from the Italian vessel on the Indian shipping vessel having occurred within the Contiguous Zone, the Union of India is entitled to prosecute the two Italian marines under the criminal justice system prevalent in the country,ˈ the bench had said./end