Three months after they allegedly shot dead two Indian fishermen off Kerala coast, the police on Friday filed a chargesheet against two Italian marines in a court Kollam charging them with murder under IPC and also invoking the International Maritime Law.
The government on Tuesday said there was no pressure from Italy on the marines issue, nearly a week after Italian Prime Minister called up Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to express concern over detention of two of his country's sailors in Kerala for allegedly killing two fishermen.
In Rome, the Italian Foreign Ministry in a statement said: "In the light of the developments in the situation in Kerala and the charges against the two Italian servicemen, Latore Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone, the Italian ambassador to New Delhi, Giacomo Sanfelice has been recalled to Rome for consultations with the government".
The marines, Latore Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone, had in their plea asked the Court to allow joint forensic examination of the weapons used in the shooting incident by Indian and Italian experts.
Two Italian marines charged with murder in connection with the killing of two Indian fishermen, were on Monday remanded in judicial custody for 14 days by a court in Kollam and sent to the Central Prison at Thiruvananthapuram.
Kerala high court on Thursday admitted a petition filed by the Italian government seeking to quash the FIR against two of its naval personnel, arrested in connection with the recent shooting to death of two Indian fishermen off the state coast.
A court in Kollam on Saturday rejected the bail application of two Italian marines accused in the fishermen killing case, holding that granting it might affect progress of the case.
Pointing out that there were "serious defects" in the Italian government's plea seeking quashing of the FIR charging two of its marines with the murder of two fishermen, the Kerala high court on Thursday sternly told them that it will look into the petition only after these are "cured". The Italian government should not have an impression that the Indian Judiciary was so loose that anyone could file a petition before courts, Justice P S Gopinathan said in the open court.
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