Marines case: Italy to battle hard against India at ITLOS

Italy on Monday said it will battle hard to defend the two Italian marines, accused of killing two Indian fishermen in 2012, when their case comes up for hearing before a Germany-based international tribunal from August 10.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella vowed that Italy will battle hard to defend the duo.

“Italy is a country that is ready to protect its citizens and it intends to keep battling with determination (for the two marines),” he was quoted as saying by the Italian news agency ANSA.

The Hamburg-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) said its president Judge Vladimir Golitsyn would on August 10 open a public hearing expected to last two days.

Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Italy will defend its stand on marines -- Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone -- accused of killing two Indian fishermen during an anti-piracy mission off Kerala’s coast in 2012 at international arbitration.

India will contest the Italian government’s decision to take the matter of the two marines to the ITLOS. A legal team, headed by a law officer, will leave for Germany to represent India’s case at the hearings in Hamburg.

“I confirm the government’s commitment to <g data-gr-id="24">defend</g> the arguments of marines Massimiliano <g data-gr-id="21">Latore</g> and Salvatore Girone at the international bodies we have decided to turn to,” Gentiloni told a conference of envoys in Rome.