A military prosecutor in Rome today questioned the two Italian marines who are facing trial for the killing of two Indian fishermen reportedly mistaken for pirates.
The two marines, in full dress uniform, made no comment to reporters when they arrived at the military prosecutor’s office, which had summoned them for its own probe of the 2012 shooting.
India and Italy are in a bitter standoff over the case.
Earlier this week, India’s Supreme Court had indefinitely extended its order barring the Italian ambassador from leaving the country after Italy refused to send the marines back to India. Italy’s foreign ministry has called the court’s decision as a clear violation of diplomatic relations.
Italy says its marines were on anti-pirate duty aboard a cargo ship off India’s coast in February last year when the fishermen, aboard an Indian fishing boat, were killed.
Italy insists the shooting happened in international waters during an international anti-piracy mission and thus, Rome, not India, should have jurisdiction. But a local Indian court insisted that it would conduct the probe and the marines were ordered held in India.
The marines went to Italy for Christmas holidays and for the national election in February but after that Italy announced they would not send them back to India.
An Italian Government official, briefing reporters in Rome on customary condition of anonymity, said that Italy had submitted affidavits saying that the marines would return to India if requirements in the Italian Constitution were respected.
The Constitution says Italians cannot be tried by a court that has not already been established. The Indian court has ordered the Italians to be tried by a special tribunal but that has yet to be created.
Italy says it has also asked the Indian judicial authorities to hand over the official transcripts of the marines’ questioning in India as well as the results of ballistic tests, but so far has not received them.
Military Prosecutor Marco De Paolis must decide whether the marines should be charged in Italy or whether the case against them should be shelved.