Italy has summoned the Indian ambassador to urge India's Supreme Court to reach a decision before the year-end Christmas holiday over where two Italian marines accused of killing two fishermen should be tried. The sailors, members of a military security team protecting the cargo ship Enrica Lexie from pirate attacks, fired on the fishermen's boat off the coast of Kerala in February. Italian officials say the men mistook the fishermen for pirates.
Italy has challenged in the New Delhi Supreme Court India's right to try them, saying the shooting took place in international waters, outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts. Indian authorities accuse the sailors of killing unarmed fishermen in a "contiguous zone" where Indian law applies.
Separately, the sailors filed a petition on Friday with the Keralan high court seeking permission to return temporarily to Italy for Christmas. They are currently on bail in the Indian state but not allowed to leave the country. The Kerala court will consider their petition on Tuesday, the counsel for the sailors, P. Vijaya Bhanu, told Reuters. The Italian government has given an undertaking the marines would be in its custody during their stay and would take responsibility for their return to India. In a statement late on Thursday, Italy's Foreign Ministry said it had summoned the ambassador to express its "profound surprise and concern" the Indian Supreme Court had not ruled on the case three months after arguments ended.
In New Delhi, prosecutors and the sailors' defence lawyers said the case was unlikely to be heard before January 2 at the earliest. The case has soured relations between Italy and India, with Rome insisting Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone should be tried at home. Italy petitioned India's Supreme Court after the Kerala High Court held the marines were liable to be tried under Indian law. In India, states level judiciaries are responsible for law and order on their territory.