India said at an arbitration
court in The Hague Thursday it wants assurances Italy would send
marine Salvatore Girone to face trial in India, should charges
be brought.
Girone has been held in India for the past four years
without charge, and Italy is suing for his release.
"We ask the arbitration tribunal to set out the
guarantees," Indian representative Neeru Chandha told an
international tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration
after she was asked "what would be acceptable to India".
Chandha ended by urging the court to turn down Italy's
request.
Italy's representative yesterday told the court Girone must
be allowed to come home because he risks being held in India
another four years without charge.
This would violate his human rights and the principle of
due process, Ambassador Francesco Azzarello said.
Azzarello said the arbitration might last another three to
four years, which means that Girone risks "being held in (New)
Delhi, without any charges being brought, for seven to eight
years in total". This, he said, would be a "serious violation of
his human rights".
"Girone is forced to live thousands of kilometres from his
family (and) two small children, deprived of his freedom and his
rights," said the ambassador.
"Italy is suffering severe and irreversible damage by his
detention".
Azzarello said India failed to "respect the basic principle
of due process - that of bringing a charge".
Girone is one of two Italian marines accused by India of
killing two Indian fishermen during an anti-piracy mission in
2012. In spite of the fact that India has not brought charges he
has been not been allowed to leave - aside from a few brief
permits - since the incident.
Fellow serviceman Massimiliano Latorre is back in Italy
after suffering a stroke in 2014.
Italy has taken the marines case to international
arbitration after repeated delays in its handling by India.
India replied that the four-year delay in charging the
marines was due not to negligence but to Italian obstructionism
in lodging repeated appeals and petitions.
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