New Delhi: A UN arbitration court has held that the Italian marine detained in India on charges of having killed two fishermen should be released and allowed to return home, the Italian Foreign ministry said today. The claim, however, has been denied by the government saying Italy misrepresenting Tribunal order.
"No marine freed and the bail condition of Girone to be set by the Supreme Court of India," a PTI report said, citing government sources, adding that the possible return back home is strictly conditional on Italy guaranteeing to return him if required.
Arbitral Tribunal clearly recognizes that "Girone is under India's authority alone", the sources added.
However, the ruling about the same will be made public tomorrow, according to Italian news agency ANSA.
"Foreign Ministry informs that the arbitral tribunal set up in The Hague has anticipated today its decision that Girone Rifleman (be allowed to go) back in Italy until the end of the arbitration proceedings, initiated by the Government on June 26, 2015. The return of the conditions will be agreed between Italy and India," the Italian ministry said.
The government has been working to submit the whole matter to international arbitration and, in this framework, bringing home the two Riflemen Marina. The announced order paves the way for this result. Italy in March had asked the PCA judges to order India to release its detained marine Girone, saying otherwise he risks four more years in India without any charges being made which would amount to "grave violation of his human rights".
The PCA is hearing oral arguments by the two sides. The arbitration "could last at least three or four years" which means that Girone risks "being held in (New) Delhi, without any charges being made, for a total of seven-eight years", Italy's representative had told the court.
The move could come as a blow to India which has argued that the case was not that of a maritime dispute but that of a murder committed in Indian waters. In 2012, India arrested two Italian marines – Salvatore Girone and Massimiliano Latorre – on suspicion that they killed two fishermen that they had mistaken for pirates while they had been escorting an oil tanker.
While Latorre returned to Italy with health problems, India refused to let Salvatore leave the country. Latorre’s return to Italy followed the Supreme Court’s extending his 2014 home leave after he suffered a stroke.
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The case has soured relations between India and Italy, but the two countries agreed last year to move the case to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague and abide by its decisions. While Italy insists the oil tanker, the MV Enrica Lexie, was in international waters at the time of the incident, India has argued that the case is "a double murder at sea".
Two fishermen were killed in the shootout, which saw one fisherman shot in the head and the other in the stomach.
The Italian Foreign ministry said in a statement that in an initial ruling, the court had decided that Girone should be allowed home. It said it would be in immediate contact with India to try to make sure he would return as soon as possible.
The court will continue to review the merits of the case against the two marines.
(With agencies)
