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India drops charges against Italian marines accused of killing two fishermen
- The two soldiers killed the fishermen off Kerala in 2012 while protecting an Italian oil tanker as part of an anti-piracy mission
- The legal saga affected relations between New Delhi and Rome, but ended after India accepted a compensation offer of US$1.4 million
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India’s top court on Tuesday dropped long-running proceedings against two Italian marines who shot dead two fishermen off Kerala in 2012, but said that the soldiers should now be tried in their own country.
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Salvatore Girone and Massimiliano Latorre killed the unarmed fishermen off the southern Indian coast in February 2012 while protecting an Italian oil tanker as part of an anti-piracy mission.
After a legal saga that has dogged relations between Rome and New Delhi for almost a decade, India in April accepted a compensation offer of 100 million rupees (US$1.4 million).
Quashing the case, India’s Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that 40 million rupees each would be given to the families and the remaining 20 million rupees to the owner of the boat used by the fishermen.
Italy’s Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio tweeted that the ruling “brings this long episode to an end”.
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