India: Court says Italians must be detained for another week

New Delhi, 23 Feb. (AKI) - A court in the southern Indian state of Kerala said the two Italian marines accused of shooting dead two fishermen will stay in police custody for another week, according to Indian news web site IBNLive.com.

The Kollam court on Tuesday permitted police to search the Italian oil tanker Enrica Lexie to impound the weapons allegedly used by the naval guards to shoot the fishermen.

Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone who aboard to protect the ship from pirates and say the fishing vessel on 15 February didn't respond to warning shots. They appeared Thursday in court on Thursday for a preliminary hearing.

Italy on Thursday said it would cooperate with the Kerala police for the ballistic examination of the weapons if it is conducted in the presence of an Italian representative.

'We will cooperate for the ballistic examination, but we should also be present. Hope it will bring out justice', Italian deputy foreign minister Stefan de Mistura said, according to the India Today newspaper.

Mistura, the Italian envoy sent by Rome to oversee the case on behalf of the Italians, reiterated earlier statements that the shooting took place in international waters, meaning it would be out of Indian jurisdiction.

'We will cooperate for the ballistic examination, but we should also be present. Hope it will bring out justice', Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Stefan de Mistura said, according to India's ZEENews.

"We stick to our stand that the vessel was in international waters when the incident took place. It was 22.5 nautical miles of Kollam coast', India Today cited him as saying.

Separately, the Kerala High Court on Thursday admitted a petition filed by the Italian government seeking to dismiss the case, according to the daily.

Mistura said he was happy the way the two Italian Marines arrested for killing two Indian fishermen are being treated.

"We have expressed our appreciation in the manner in which they have been treated," the minister told reporters here, Daily News & Analysis, an Indian news organisation, reported.