Italian marine Salvatore
Girone is preparing to spend his fourth Christmas in India, and
although his family will be with him, he said he's tired of the
"unacceptable routine" that forces his family to travel to see
him and keeps him far from other loved ones and friends in
Italy, a defence source told ANSA on Wednesday.
Girone is one of two Italian marines accused by India of
killing two Indian fishermen during an anti-piracy mission in
2012.
The other marine, Massimiliano Latorre, was granted leave
to return to Italy last year after suffering a stroke.
Girone is under provisional liberty which requires him to
sign in weekly at the diplomatic enclave of Chanakyapuri.
The defence source said Girone's family situation is
"deteriorating, because of the distance and the weight of
household management that falls entirely on his wife".
Girone will be joined in India by his children Michele, 14,
and Martina, 9, along with his wife and his parents, and will
spend Christmas in his small quarters inside the Italian
embassy.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, Italian Defence Minister Roberta
Pinotti said, "Italy maintains that the continuing state of
deprivation of personal freedom for riflemen Latorre and Girone
affects the Italian right to exercise exclusive jurisdiction on
the case and their functional immunity as in-service military".
Italy has taken the case to international arbitration after
a long series of delays.
In August, the Hamburg-based International Tribunal for the
Law of the Sea stated that India has no jurisdiction over the
case and put it up to the International Court of Justice
in The Hague, which in November set up an international tribunal
at the Permanent Court of Arbitration to handle it.
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