Tribunal hears case of high seas shooting

The UN-mandated tribunal in Hamburg opened a hearing Monday over whether two Italian marines should be held liable for the deaths of Selestian Valentine and Ajesh Pinky, two Indian fishermen killed in international waters.

The defendants, Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Gironem, had been assigned to anti-piracy duty aboard the M/V Enrica Laxie, an Italian oil tanker off India's coast at the time of the shootings.

Italy maintains that as the shooting occurred in international waters, the fishermen were mistaken for pirates and the case should be heard in an Italian court.

But India has rejected that request, arguing that the case is not a maritime dispute but "about a double murder at sea", in which one of the men was shot in the head and the other in the stomach.

Indian delegate Neeru Chadha told the court that there is no justification for Italy's request and the victims' families are still waiting for "justice which has been delayed by Italy's intransigence."

Rome took the case to international arbitration in June which is why the case is being heard in Germany.

Italy also wants the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to order restrictions on the marines' movement lifted, enabling Girone, who is residing in the Italian embassy in New Delhi, to return home and Latorre to remain in Italy, where he was allowed to return to last year to receive medical treatment.

"Frustration, stress and deteriorating medical conditions are affecting the people involved directly and indirectly," Italian delegate Francesco Azzarrello told the tribunal, stressing there's an urgent need to address the situation.

The tribunal is expected to rule on the case later this month.

jar/gsw (AFP, AP)