New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India on Thursday allowed an Italian marine arrested for murdering two Kerala fishermen six years ago.
The government supported the request from Salvatore Girone, one of the accused, on “humanitarian grounds.” However, Girone must report every month to a designated police station and agree to obey the Indian apex court orders after he leaves India.
Girone and Massimiliano Latorre were under investigation over the killing of the fishermen in 2012. Italy has said the marines were guarding an oil tanker and mistook the fishermen for pirates.
Latorre left India in 2014 for medical treatment after a stroke and the Supreme Court recently allowed him to stay in Italy until September end.
A UN arbitration court hearing the case ruled earlier May that India should release Girone, who is on bail but has been detained at the Italian embassy in Delhi for more than four years. The court at the Hague said that the marine would have to obey bail conditions set by the Supreme Court.
The dispute over the marines had escalated into a full-blown diplomatic crisis for Italy and India over who has jurisdiction over the case. Italy then sought international arbitration and India agreed to abide by the UN court’s findings, reports ndtv.com.
Rome maintains the immunity of both the marines to prosecution since they were serving on a U.N.-backed anti-piracy mission and the oil tanker they were escorting was in international waters when it fired on the fishermen. India has vehemently opposed that stand.
The Supreme Court last year suspended all legal proceedings against the two Italian marines on the orders of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.