Italy today rushed to a top diplomat to India among a deepening row over the arrest of two Italian Naval guards who also planned to move to move the Kerala High Court tomorrow to quash the FIR charging them with the killing of two Indian fishermen.
The Italian foreign ministry said ina statement in Rome while announcing the visit that Junior foreign minister Staffan De Mistura will continue on a political level the action so far carried out by a delegation of experts from the Italian foreign, defence and justice ministries.
The statement also said that Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi will visit India personally by next Tuesday.
A counsel represnting them said in Kochi that the petition put forth by two marines namely Massimiliano Lattore and Salvatore Girone was likely to be filed in the Kerala High Court tomorrow.
A counsel who did not want his name to be revealed was quoted as saying that so far it was not yet decided in whose behalf – the government or any other party, the petition would be filed.
The counsel said that the contention of the accused who has been charged with murder was that the Kerala police has no authority to conduct investigation in the case and courts in India have no jurisidiction as the incident occurred beyond the Indian territorial waters.
The interrogation of the two accused, who were remanded in a three-day police custody yesterday, by a court in Kollam district continued today. The Naval crew has claimed that the fishermen were killed on suspicion of them being pirates.
Dora Valentine, wife of Valentine alias Jelstine, aged 45 years, one of the two fishermen killed in firing from the Italian merchant ship in February 15 off Kollam coast in Kerala, and her two children V Derick and V Jeen meanwhile moved a petition in the Kerala High Court seeking Rupees one crore as compensation.
No comments:
Post a Comment