Italian special envoy Staffan de Mistura and military attaché Franco Favre talk to journalists outside the Supreme Court in New Delhi yesterday.

Agencies/Rome/New Delhi


Italy yesterday recalled its ambassador from India in protest over a new delay in court proceedings against two Italian marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen in a case that has raised tensions.
Ambassador Daniele Mancini will return to Italy immediately for consultations, the foreign ministry said in a statement, condemning “a new and unacceptable delay by the Indian Supreme Court.”
The two marines, Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, who are staying at the Italian embassy in New Delhi, are accused of killing two Indian fishermen they mistook for pirates while guarding a cargo ship in 2012.
“Given the evident incapacity of the Indian judicial authorities to handle this case, Italy will continue and intensify action to defend its sovereign rights in line with international law,” Foreign Minister Emma Bonino was quoted as saying.
A first version of the statement had referred to “India’s evident incapacity” to handle the case, rather than accusing specifically the judiciary.
“Italy’s main aim remains trying to obtain the return of the two marines as quickly as possible,” Bonino said.
A Supreme Court hearing scheduled for yesterday was immediately postponed because prosecutors are still waiting for the Indian law ministry to decide which law to try the case under.
The court asked the government to clarify whether or not it would invoke a tough anti-piracy law against the marines.
Justice B S Chauhan asked the government to submit a report on February 24, after Attorney General Goolam E Vahanvati said the application of the Suppression of Unlawful Acts (SUA) law was being examined by the law ministry.
Last week, the Indian government had said it would prosecute the marines under a section of the SUA that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail.
But the decision came under review after Italy said invoking the anti-piracy legislation would be tantamount to treating its officers as terrorists.
“The Attorney General reported that the final decision on whether SUA is to be applied or dropped will be taken by the law ministry,” Diljeet Titus, a lawyer for the marines, said.
“The government will inform the court about the law under which to try the marines on Monday. Arguments will also be heard that day.”
“This is too much. There is no justice in this case. We are faced with an ambiguous behaviour and a lack of trustworthiness on the part of the Indian authorities,” said Mario Mauro, Italy’s defence minister.
“The decision to recall the ambassador is not only justified but inevitable and reflects the feelings of the Italian people,” he said.
Italian authorities have lobbied the European Union and the UN on the case, saying Latorre and Girone should be tried in Italy because it says the incident took place in international waters.
India denies this, saying it happened in Indian waters.
The pair say they mistook the fishing boat for a pirate vessel and only fired warning shots.
The delay prompted the marines last month to ask the court to drop any charges against them and allow them to return home.
To speed up the process, the court gave the Indian government a week to make a final decision on the marines’ prosecution.
The European Union expressed frustration with the court’s decision to delay a ruling.
“We are disappointed at the news that we received this morning that two years after the incident occurred, the Supreme Court has once again decided to postpone a decision on the law to be invoked in the case of the two Italian marines,” Maja Kocijancic, a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, said.
“We encourage India to find as a matter of urgency a mutually satisfactory solution to this long-standing case in accordance with international law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea,” she said.
Kocijancic also said the EU believes the use of an anti-terrorism law “would be inappropriate in this case.”
Meanwhile, international law expert Joseph William Davids of the Phoenix School of Law said India and Italy should put their political grandstanding aside and co-operate pragmatically.
Davids said it was a simple criminal jurisdiction case that has been taken out of proportion by political interests.