- ROME: Italy’s foreign minister has summoned the Indian ambassador to protest the detention of two Italian marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen at sea.
The Foreign Ministry says Minister Giulio Terzi also told Ambassador Debrabata Saha of Italy’s concern about the “strong anti-Italian sentiment” surrounding the case.
Terzi said Tuesday such sentiment could prejudice any court case against the men, though he repeated Rome’s insistance that Indian courts have no jurisdiction over the matter anyway.
The marines, who were providing security on a cargo ship, are accused of shooting the fishermen Feb. 15 after mistaking them for pirates off India’s southwest coast.
A court in the southern state of Kerala on Monday ordered them jailed for another two weeks.