A special New Delhi court
tasked with handling the case of two Italian marines accused of
killing two Indian fishermen during an anti-piracy mission in
2012 on Monday suspended the start of the trial to July 31,
pending a Supreme Court ruling.
India's top court on Friday agreed to consider an Italian
appeal against NIA anti-terrorism prosectors taking the case and
said it would look at the petition in a hearing in four weeks.
In the appeal, Italy also requested that marines
Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone be allowed to return
home and that the whole case be dropped.
Latorre and Girone are accused of killing fishermen
Valentine (aka Gelastine) and Ajesh Binki after allegedly
mistaking them for pirates and reportedly opening fire on their
fishing trawler.
The incident occurred while the marines were guarding the
privately owned Italian-flagged oil-tanker MT Enrica Lexie off
the coast of the southern Indian state of Kerala in February
2012.
The two marines have been living and working at the
Italian embassy in India pending charges.
Rome has protested a long series of delays in the case,
which has caused a deep diplomatic schism between the countries.
It successfully fought to ensure New Delhi take the
death penalty off the table and drop the application of a severe
anti-terrorism, anti-piracy law, which it said would have
equated Italy with a terrorist state.
Rome is seeking international arbitration in the case,
which it argues is not India's jurisdiction as the incident took
place outside the country's territorial waters.
It also says the marines should be exempt from prosecution
in India because they are servicemen who were working on an
anti-piracy mission.
Premier Matteo Renzi on his appointment last month called
the case "absurd and shocking".
He said on Thursday that he had called on United States
President Barack Obama to support Italy over the marines during
a meeting between the leaders in Rome.
The Italian government's special envoy on the case Staffan
de Mistura has argued that if the marines must face trial, it
should be in Italy.
De Mistura said last week that if a trial starts in India,
Italy will snub the proceedings.
Italy has won the backing of the European Union, which has
said the case endangers international anti-piracy operations.
Rome is also trying to get the United Nations involved.
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