Guynextdoor2
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CAN SOMEONE TELL ME JUST WTF THESE IDIOTS WERE ALLOWED TO GO BACK TO ITALY?
ROME: Two Italian marines charged in India with killing two fishermen while on anti-piracy duty will not return from a special home visit granted to allow them to vote in last month's general election, the Italian foreign ministry said on Monday.
The ministry said that India had not responded to Italian requests to seek a diplomatic solution to the case and there was now a formal dispute between the two countries over the terms of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea.
"Italy has informed the Indian government that, given the formal initiation of an international dispute between the two states, the marines Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone will not return to India at the end of their home leave."
The Supreme Court last month allowed the two Italian marines to return home to vote in a parliamentary election.
The sailors, members of a military security team protecting a cargo ship from pirate attacks, are accused of shooting the fishermen they say they mistook for pirates off the southern state of Kerala in February 2012, sparking a diplomatic row between New Delhi and Rome.
"The judges were sympathetic to the marines' request to exercise their democratic right of casting their votes," in the Feb. 24-25 poll, Diljeet Titus, one of the lawyers representing the Italians, told Reuters.
In January, the Supreme Court said in a long-awaited ruling that India had jurisdiction to try marines Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, setting the stage for a criminal trial that could further sour ties between India and Italy.
Italy had challenged India's right to try the two, arguing that the shooting had taken place in international waters. "It is a very positive development and I feel great satisfaction," Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi said in a statement.
"It allows our two boys to exercise their right to vote and to spend four weeks with their family in Italy, and the decision confirms a spirit of trust and cooperation with the Indian authorities that gives us hope for a positive outcome."
The Italians spent Christmas in Italy, after a Kerala court allowed them to join their families for the holiday, on condition they returned to India by Jan. 10, which they did.
The marines were held at the Italian embassy in New Delhi and used to report to a police station once a week.