Tweet
Italian Marines remanded to judicial custody till March 5
The two Italian Navy personnel, arrested on Sunday for shooting to death two fishermen off the Kerala coast on February 15 from aboard Naples-registered oil tanker Enrica Lexie, were on Monday remanded in judicial custody till March 5 by First Class Judicial Magistrate KP Joy of Karunagappally in Kollam district.
The Magistrate also accepted a plea of the Kerala Police for getting the two Italian Marines, Latore Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone, in their custody during the first three days of the remand period for further investigations. They were arrested on Sunday after being taken into custody from Enrica Lexie, berthed then at the Kochi harbour.
The Navy men were produced before the Magistrate in Kollam, though they were arrested in Kochi, as the case against them was registered by the Kollam police since they had shot the fishermen, Jelestine (48) and Ajesh Binki (25), to death from aboard the oil tanker in Indian waters off the Neendakara coast in Kollam district.
Massimiliano and Girone, arrested on murder charge under Section 302 of the IPC, were produced at Magistrate Joy's residence (as the courts were on a holiday) amid raging protests by several youth outfits like the DYFI, Yuva Morcha, Youth Congress and the AIYF, who demanded awarding of nothing less than capital punishment to them.
They were brought to the Magistrate's house under heavy security cover as there was advance information on possible trouble due to protests. The area witnessed tension for a long time as the protestors several times broke the police line and reached near the judge's house. The police even resorted to lathi-charge in which a Youth Congress activist was injured.
Italian diplomats, ship's captain Umberto Vitelli and lawyers of Naples-based Dolphin Tanker, owners of Enrica Lexie, had reached Kollam when the two Marines were produced before the judge. The Italians are still arguing that the shooting incident had taken place in international waters where Indian law had no jurisdiction.
After the Magistrate allowed three-day police custody of the duo, they were taken to Kochi from where they had been brought to Kollam. The Kochi Police, in the meantime, questioned all the crew members aboard the tanker. Captain Vitelli was questioned for a second time on Monday.
Enrica Lexie, berthed at Kochi harbour's oil tanker terminal since February 17, was moved to outer anchorage on Monday to facilitate berthing of oil tankers moving into the port. The ship will remain under the control of the Indian Coast Guard and is unlikely to be released until the investigations and other legal procedures are over.
Meanwhile, sources in the police said that the duo had confessed to their crime during questioning in Kochi. It is said that Massimiliano had fired the shots that killed the two fishermen while the bullets from Sergeant Girone's gun had landed in the water. Master Sergeant Massimiliano was the chief of the six-Marine security detail of Enrica Lexie.
Only these two Marines were on security duty on the ship when the incident took place, the police learned from Captain Vitelli and the other crew members. Sources said there was no chance of an argument to come from the arrested Marines that they were obeying others' orders as the chief of security himself had shot the fishermen to death.
In the meantime, complaints came up from fishermen's associations and political outfits that the accused Italians were getting "VIP treatment" from the police authorities. Massimiliano and Girone were seen toying with mobile phones and in company with the Italian diplomats who were talking with the duo and smoking cigarettes at will in the presence of senior police officials.
"Is this the way the Kerala Police treat men accused of murder?" asked fishing worker Yohannan of Thoppumpady, Kochi. "Or is it that the police are afraid of making such VIPs obey their orders? It is a humiliation for us to see those murderers getting such "VIP treatment," said Yohannan.
The two Italian Navy personnel, arrested on Sunday for shooting to death two fishermen off the Kerala coast on February 15 from aboard Naples-registered oil tanker Enrica Lexie, were on Monday remanded in judicial custody till March 5 by First Class Judicial Magistrate KP Joy of Karunagappally in Kollam district.
The Magistrate also accepted a plea of the Kerala Police for getting the two Italian Marines, Latore Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone, in their custody during the first three days of the remand period for further investigations. They were arrested on Sunday after being taken into custody from Enrica Lexie, berthed then at the Kochi harbour.
The Navy men were produced before the Magistrate in Kollam, though they were arrested in Kochi, as the case against them was registered by the Kollam police since they had shot the fishermen, Jelestine (48) and Ajesh Binki (25), to death from aboard the oil tanker in Indian waters off the Neendakara coast in Kollam district.
Massimiliano and Girone, arrested on murder charge under Section 302 of the IPC, were produced at Magistrate Joy's residence (as the courts were on a holiday) amid raging protests by several youth outfits like the DYFI, Yuva Morcha, Youth Congress and the AIYF, who demanded awarding of nothing less than capital punishment to them.
They were brought to the Magistrate's house under heavy security cover as there was advance information on possible trouble due to protests. The area witnessed tension for a long time as the protestors several times broke the police line and reached near the judge's house. The police even resorted to lathi-charge in which a Youth Congress activist was injured.
Italian diplomats, ship's captain Umberto Vitelli and lawyers of Naples-based Dolphin Tanker, owners of Enrica Lexie, had reached Kollam when the two Marines were produced before the judge. The Italians are still arguing that the shooting incident had taken place in international waters where Indian law had no jurisdiction.
After the Magistrate allowed three-day police custody of the duo, they were taken to Kochi from where they had been brought to Kollam. The Kochi Police, in the meantime, questioned all the crew members aboard the tanker. Captain Vitelli was questioned for a second time on Monday.
Enrica Lexie, berthed at Kochi harbour's oil tanker terminal since February 17, was moved to outer anchorage on Monday to facilitate berthing of oil tankers moving into the port. The ship will remain under the control of the Indian Coast Guard and is unlikely to be released until the investigations and other legal procedures are over.
Meanwhile, sources in the police said that the duo had confessed to their crime during questioning in Kochi. It is said that Massimiliano had fired the shots that killed the two fishermen while the bullets from Sergeant Girone's gun had landed in the water. Master Sergeant Massimiliano was the chief of the six-Marine security detail of Enrica Lexie.
Only these two Marines were on security duty on the ship when the incident took place, the police learned from Captain Vitelli and the other crew members. Sources said there was no chance of an argument to come from the arrested Marines that they were obeying others' orders as the chief of security himself had shot the fishermen to death.
In the meantime, complaints came up from fishermen's associations and political outfits that the accused Italians were getting "VIP treatment" from the police authorities. Massimiliano and Girone were seen toying with mobile phones and in company with the Italian diplomats who were talking with the duo and smoking cigarettes at will in the presence of senior police officials.
"Is this the way the Kerala Police treat men accused of murder?" asked fishing worker Yohannan of Thoppumpady, Kochi. "Or is it that the police are afraid of making such VIPs obey their orders? It is a humiliation for us to see those murderers getting such "VIP treatment," said Yohannan.
