Italian Marines to be produced before magistrate

Kollam, February 20, 2012

Two Marines of the Italian ship Enirca Lexie, charged with the killing of two Indian fishermen off Kerala, would be produced before a local magistrate here on Monday afternoon.



The Marines — Latorre Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone — were arrested by Kerala police on Sunday and brought to the land from the ship, which was intercepted and berthed at Cochin Port. They have been charged with murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code.



The deceased — Valentine Jalastine and Ajeesh Binki — last week set out to sea in a boat along with nine fellow fishermen from Neendakara fishing harbour. They were allegedly killed by the Marines of the ship, who fired at their boat on February 15.



The Italian authorities have contended that the fishing boat was fired mistaking it to be a pirates' vessel.



After four days of negotiations involving Indian and Italian diplomats, the Marines were arrested by police in Kochi on Sunday. They were later questioned by a team of senior police officials including Kochi City Police Commissioner M.R. Ajith Kumar and Kollam SP Sam Christy Daniel.



Meanwhile, Cochin Port sources said the Italian vessel would be moved to the outer anchorage within the port limits. The ship is presently inside the oil terminal due to which other oil tankers of various companies are finding it difficult to discharge cargo. Cochin Port and Coast Guard would monitor the movement of the Italian ship, Port sources said.


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