An Indian court on Monday ordered two Italian soldiers to be moved to jail from a guest house as officials investigate last month's killing of two Indian fishermen at sea. The trial court in the southern state of Kerala denied a plea for jail privileges which are granted in Italy to the military, saying Indian law granted no such favours.
The soldiers face charges of shooting dead the two fishermen who were mistaken for pirates trying to attack an oil tanker that the Italians were protecting. The judicial decision was immediately termed "unacceptable" by Italian officials. A foreign ministry top official in Rome, Giampiero Massolo, summoned Indian charge d'affaires Saurabh Kumar to express "the government's very strong concern" over the jailing of the two servicemen, according to a ministry statement.
The incident has put India's diplomatic ties with Italy to the test with Rome arguing that the shootings occurred in international waters and New Delhi insisting that the case should be dealt with according to Indian law. Italy has also filed a separate petition in the Kerala state high court seeking instant dismissal of the murder case against the two soldiers, Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone.
On Monday, Chief Judicial Magistrate A.K. Gopakumar said that the two Italians should be sent to the Central Prison in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala's capital city. "The Italians have been housed apart from other inmates in the jail and are allowed to meet Italian visitors for an hour every day," senior police officer Ajit Kumar told AFP. They are expected to appear back before the courts in two weeks.