Monday, July 16, 2012

Enrica Lexie - Replay

This a tragic affair and I sympathise with the victims. But this will be an interesting case.When the Italian Marines mistook and fired and killed two Indian fishermen off the coast of Kerala everyone in Kerala from Oommen Chandy downwards plus Krishna, Antony et al were insisting that India has jurisdiction to try the case. The ship Enrica Lexie and the Italian Marines were tricked to come to Kochi port and the Marines were arrested pronto and the ship detained for nearly three months. The Marines got bail after some 100 days or so with so much restrictions that they are virtually prisoners not allowed to move out of sight of the Ernakulam police commissioner. One of the judges even went to the extent of declaring that the act can be considered a terrorist act from the point of view of the victims families. The law frowned at the compensation given by the Italian Government go the victims families. The government was toying with the idea of using SUA Act to try the case. Though better sense prevailed later and the idea was dropped. The question is will the US ship asked to come to an Indian port and kept there? Will the soldiers who shot and killed one Indian citizen and injured three other Indian citizens arrested and kept in jail? Will the Indian Government argue that since it was Indian citizen who was killed it is India Government which should try this case? India could bulldoze Italy. Can it do the same with US. I have been waiting for the out come of Enrica Lexie and now this also will equally interesting. Hope US will match the magnanimity Italy has shown.

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