Ship crew arrest in Kerala : Italy rushes diplomat to India

Italy on Tuesday rushed a top diplomat to India amid a deepening row over the arrest of two Italian naval guards who also plan to move the Kerala High Court on Wednesday to quash the FIR charging them with the killing of two Indian fishermen at sea.

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 Italian foreign ministry said in a statement in Rome while announcing the visit.

The statement also said that foreign minister Giulio Terzi will visit India 'personally' next Tuesday. The petition by the two marines Massimiliano Lattore and Salvatore Girone was likely to be filed in the high court Wednesday, a counsel representing them told reporters in Kochi. It had not yet been decided on whose behalf -- government or any other party -- the petition would be filed, the counsel, who did not want to be named, said.

The contention of the accused who have been slapped with a murder charge would be that Kerala police have no authority to conduct investigation in the case and courts in India have no jurisdiction as the incident occurred beyond the Indian territorial waters, the counsel said.

The interrogation of the two accused, who were remanded in three-day police custody, by a court in Kollam district continued today. The naval crew has claimed that the fishermen were killed on suspicion of being pirates.

Dora Valentine, wife of Valentine alias Jelstine (45), one of the two fishermen killed in firing from the Italian merchant ship on February 15 off Kollam, and her two children V Derick and V Jeen meanwhile moved a petition in the high court seeking Rs one crore compensation. She said the vessel Enrica Lexie should be impounded and not allowed to leave without paying security.

Meanwhile, amid a raging row over the killing of two Indian fishermen by Italian soldiers, a cardinal from Kerala has appealed to the state authorities not to resort to precipitate action and warned the opposition against trying to exploit the situation.

After the last week incident, "I immediately contacted the Catholic Ministers of Kerala urging the government not to act precipitately,"Kochi-based George Alencherry, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church in Kerala who has recently been elected a cardinal, told Catholic news agency 'Fides'.

The cardinal was accompanied here by KV Thomas, Minister of State for Agriculture, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

- Asian Tribune -

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