India's Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the continued stay in Italy of a marine who, together with his buddy, is accused of shooting to death two Indian fishermen in 2012.
According to ABC News, court's decision extends to September 30 the medical leave for marine Massimiliano Latorre that had been due to expire on April 30. Latorre and his fellow marine Salvatore Girone are charged with the killing while assigned on anti-piracy duty on board an Italian oil tanker off the southern Kerala coast of India.
The incident has strained relations between India and Italy and is now under international arbitration. Both marines were barred from leaving India while the case is being heard but Latorre was allowed to go home for medical reason after he suffered a stroke. Girone is still not allowed to leave the country and lives in the Italian embassy in New Delhi.
Last year, Italy brought the case to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) which in August ordered India to suspend court proceedings while rejecting Rome's request for the two marines to be released pending a final ruling, the local.it reported.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is under fire from the opposition for failing to get both men home as the murder case dragged while the men are in detention. Italy insists the men were on board the tanker MV Enrica Lexie which was in international waters when the shooting happened. India claims that the case is not a maritime dispute but "a double murder at sea" in which one fisherman was shot in the head and other in the stomach, resulting to their death.
The Times of India said the court was informed by ITLOS that international arbitration will be completed in 2018 and that all court proceedings are to be suspended until after the jurisdictional issue on which country has the right to conduct the trial is resolved by ITLOS.
Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar confirmed that all court proceedings will remain stayed in India till the matter is settled by the tribunal.
