India can't prosecute Italian marines for fishermen killings, says UN court

Italy on Thursday said it will "naturally respect" the ruling of an international tribunal dealing with the killing of two Indian fishermen by two Italian marines in 2012, saying Rome is ready to fulfil what the arbitration court has established, with a "spirit of collaboration."

India accused the two Italian marines on board the MV Enrica Lexie, an Italian flagged oil tanker, of shooting dead two Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast on February 15, 2012.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague has upheld the conduct of the Indian authorities in the incident and said New Delhi is entitled to get compensation in the case but cannot prosecute the two marines due to official immunity enjoyed by them.

The international tribunal also held that the two marines violated the international law, and as a result Italy breached India's freedom of navigation under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said during an online media briefing in New Delhi on Thursday.

Commenting on the ruling by the tribunal, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said, "today a definitive full stop has been placed after a long agony. Hugs to the two marines and their families."

"Italy will naturally respect what the arbitration tribunal has established, with a spirit of collaboration," Maio was quoted as saying by the Italian news agency ANSA.

Italian Defence Minister Lorenzo Guerini also welcomed The Hague court's ruling. He said it had "put an end to an affair that had dragged on for years, particularly heavy for its human aspects.

"For this reason I send an affectionate thought to our two marines and their families for the difficult moments which they went through," Guerini said.

Shortly after the incident on February 15, 2012, the Indian Navy intercepted the Italian ship and detained the two marines Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone.

The issue of jurisdiction over the case became a bone of contention between New Delhi and Rome.

While India maintained that the incident happened in Indian waters and also the fishermen killed were Indian, and hence the case must be tried as per its laws, Italy claimed that the shooting took place outside Indian territorial waters and its marines were on-board the ship with the Italian flag.

The Tribunal decided that India is entitled to payment of compensation in connection with loss of life, physical harm, material damage to property and moral harm suffered by the captain and other crew members of the Indian fishing vessel.