Thiruvananthapuram:
Two Italian marines who are accused of killing two Indian fishermen off the coast of Kerala in February this year have been granted bail by the Kerala High Court.
The marines - Latore Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone - have been asked to furnish a surety of Rs 1 crore and surrender their passport. They cannot leave Kerala without the permission of the court and have to report to the police everyday.
Mr Massimiliano and Mr Girone were arrested on February 19 and have since been lodged at the Central Prison at Thiruvananthapuram. They had allegedly shot dead Indian fishermen Valentine Jalastine and Ajesh Bi on February 15 mistaking them for pirates. They were on board Italian ship 'Enrica Lexie' at the time of the incident.
Reacting to the court order, Kerala Home Minister T Radhakrishnan said the state government won't oppose the bail, at least for now. "I don't know the details of the conditions imposed. We were strongly opposing the bail because may be the marines would not be available for trial in India. So we wanted that their presence should definitely be guaranteed. We stand our ground. It is a brutal murder by Italian marines. Out of court settlement is not possible in this case," he added.
The incident has caused a huge diplomatic row between India and Italy. Italy insists that the incident occurred in international waters, and hence the marines should be tried in Italian courts rather than in India. India has so far not agreed to this.
Yesterday, the Kerala High Court dismissed a petition filed by the Italian government seeking quashing of the FIRs against the two marines. The court also slapped a cost of Rs. 1 lakh on it.
Dismissing the petition, Justice PS Gopinathan said that the Kerala Police has the jurisdiction to register the case since the incident occurred in the territorial waters falling within India's Exclusive Economic Zone making the Indian penal laws applicable.
Earlier this month on May 19, a court in Kollam had rejected the bail application of the marines.
A few days prior to this, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti had talked to his Indian counterpart Dr Manmohan Singh. Mr Monti, who has been pressing for the transfer of the marines to Italy, is believed to have conveyed his concern over the matter. The move was seen a bid to mount pressure on India.
Italy has called the detention of the marines illegal and challenged it before the Supreme Court. It has also paid compensation of $190,000 to the fishermen's families.
Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi indicated the bail decision would do little to end the diplomatic row.
"There's no reason to sing a victory song because the Indians continue to violate Italian jurisdiction," he said in remarks to the Italian Senate.
"Together with Defence Minister Giampaolo di Paola we will examine the concrete meaning of the decision and more specifically the conditions that will be imposed."
Junior foreign minister Staffan De Mistura, who spent weeks in India trying to resolve the dispute, said he could not comment on the bail decision until receiving the official documents, adding: "We've had too many surprises, too many disappointments, especially the families. So we'll wait for the details."
Rome says the marines should be prosecuted in their home country because the shootings occurred on an Italian-flagged vessel in international waters, but India says they took place in waters under its jurisdiction.
Armed guards are increasingly deployed on cargo ships and tankers in the Indian Ocean to tackle threats from Somali pirates, who often hold ships and crews hostage for months demanding multi-million-dollar ransoms.
After the marines were charged with murder earlier in May, Italy recalled its ambassador to Rome for consultations on the matter.
(
With AFP Inputs)