The Indian supreme court on
Wednesday suspended all judicial proceedings regarding two
Italian marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen in 2012,
in compliance with Monday's ruling from the Hamburg-based
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).
It adjourned until January 13, 2016, when it will assess
the situation, two days before a six-month medical permit
allowing one of the pair to return to Italy elapses.
On Monday ITLOS handed the affair over to the International
Court of Justice in The Hague, according to Italian wishes, but
rejected an Italian petition to get the marines, one of whom is
in Italy on sick leave, returned to Italy pending a verdict.
The supreme court's decision is "consistent" with the ITLOS
ruling, Italy's legal representative in the case, Francesco
Azzarello, said Wednesday.
He noted that ITLOS had "upheld Italy's request".
On Monday voiced satisfaction that the case had been taken
out of Indian hands but disappointment that a plea to have the
two marines released from custody pending trial had been
turned down as the court effectively washed its hands of the
case.
The ITLOS decided not to take action on the ongoing dispute
stemming from an incident off India's southern coast in February
2012.
The 21-member UN-mandated court located in Hamburg issued
the ruling with 15 in favor and six against.
It also invited both parties to "suspend ongoing judicial
initiatives and to abstain from undertaking new ones that could
aggravate the dispute".
Italy had petitioned the ITLOS to allow for the return from
India of marine Salvatore Girone and to allow fellow marine
Massimiliano Latorre to remain in Italy - where he has been on
an India-granted medical leave since last summer.
Latorre and Girone are accused of killing two fishermen
after allegedly mistaking them for pirates and opening fire on
their fishing trawler while guarding the privately owned
Italian-flagged oil tanker MT Enrica Lexie off the coast of
Kerala on February 15, 2012.
No formal charges have yet been brought against the
marines and Italy has taken the case to international
arbitration after a long series of delays in India.
The ITLOS said it is up to the ICJ) in The Hague to "rule
on the merits of the (India-Italy marines) case".
The ITLOS declined to issue provisional measures because
that would "infringe on matters linked to the merits of the
case".
Italy on the one hand hailed ITLOS's decision to halt
Indian jurisdiction but deplored its move to abstain from
issuing measures allowing Girone and Latorre to come home
pending its ultimate resolution.
The move "partially safeguards Italian rights," said
Azzarello, who argued Italy's case before the ITLOS.
"We are however disappointed the court declined to issue
measures on the situation of Girone and Latorre," he continued.
Italy may take its appeal on their behalf to the ICJ, he
said.
Italian satisfaction was voiced by Foreign Minister Paolo
Gentiloni but his cabinet colleague, Transport Minister Graziano
Delrio, saw the glass-half-empty side of what pundits called a
Pilate-like ruling.
Gentiloni said the ruling was "a useful result.
"It established definitively the very important principle
that it will not be Indian justice handling the affair".
After the Hamburg court's ruling, he said, "it will be
international arbitration, as Italy had requested, that will
handle this case."
Delrio, on the other hand, said Italy had hoped for a
different verdict from one obliging one marine to stay in India
and the other to return to India after his medical leave ends in
December.
"Italy hoped (it would go) differently, we had asked for
other things, the sentence doesn't go in the direction we had
requested," said Delrio.
Girone's father told ANSA "we are a bit angry" after the
ruling left his son in India after more than three and a half
years' detention.
India, meanwhile, hailed the verdict because it did not
grant Italy's plea to have the two marines released pending
trial.
"It's clear that the court did not take into account the
two requests presented by Italy," foreign ministry spokesman
Vikas Swarup told ANSA.
But several Indian media outlets branded the ruling a
"disappointment" for the Indian government.
Legal experts say it may take as long as two years for the
ECJ to reach a verdict.
Opinion was divided as to whether Latorre will actually
have to return to India once his medical furlough is over on
January 15.
Meanwhile various opposition parties pounced on the
ruling, saying it was a "slap in the face" for the government.
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