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India drops piracy charges against Italian marines in fishermen's deaths

TWO Italian marines, Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, are out on bail, but not allowed to leave India as prosecutors drop piracy allegations looking for other charges against them in the shooting deaths of two fishermen.

The marines (from a detachment of the navy's San Marco Regiment), were part of a security team assigned to protecting a tanker, say they mistook the fishermen for pirates but only fired warning shots. They deny killing anyone.

Italy had strongly opposed India invoking the piracy law, arguing that it would amount to treating the men as terrorists, Last week it recalled its ambassador from New Delhi in protest against the delay in the two-year-old case, according to Reuters.

Indian Attorney General Ghoolam Vahanvati told the Supreme Court the prosecution did not intend to proceed against the two marines under the anti-piracy section of the Suppression of Unlawful Acts.

"We want to delete the anti-piracy clause," he said. The men can still be tried under India's criminal laws, but the punishment in case of a conviction is ordinarily less stringent than under the piracy law."

Recently selected Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has made the issue a priority, saying that he had made two "symbolic telephone calls" to the marines as one of his first acts as premier.

India's Supreme Court said it would rule on whether the National Investigation Agency, which handles cases relating to national security, should investigate the fishermen's deaths at its next hearing. It gave no date for the session.

The court ruled a year ago that a trial would take place in India, but charges have not been filed. Italy's lawyers say the incident happened beyond India's jurisdiction.