Fisher unions oppose move to close case against Italian marines

The fishermen unions in Kerala opposed the move by the Union government to withdraw the case against the two Italian marines accepting the compensation offered to the victims.

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On February 15, 2012, two Indian fishermen returning from a fishing expedition near Lakshadweep islands onboard fishing vessel St Antony were gunned down by two Italian marines on board oil tanker Enrica Lexie.

The incident occurred around 20 nautical miles off the coast of Kerala.

Shortly after the incident, the Indian Coast Guard intercepted Enrica Lexie and detained the two Italian marines— Salvatore Girone and Massimiliano Latorre.

Following this, the Kerala Police registered an FIR against them for murder and arrested them.

In April, 2013, the case was transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) which invoked the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (SUA). The SUA Convention was passed in 1988 with the goal of suppressing international terrorism.

India argued it had jurisdiction over the case as the two fishermen were killed without warning just 20.5 nautical miles from Indian coast making the area part of India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

On March 7, 2014, India dropped the SUA charges against the marines. Later, Latorre and Girone returned from India to Italy on September 13, 2014 and May 28, 2016, respectively.