Italy appeals for release of marine held in India

Sgt. Salvatore Girone is still in jail in Kerala while fellow marine Massimiliano Latorre has been allowed to go home.

talian marine Salvatore Girone looks out of the window of a vehicle as he is shifted with fellow Marine, Massimiliano Latorre (right partially seen), to a different prison in Kochi in this May 25, 2012 file photo. Italy’s Ambassador to the Netherlands, Francesco Azzarello, on Wednesday told the Permanent Court of Arbitration that Sgt. Salvatore Girone should be allowed to return home immediately, saying “he is obliged to live thousands of kilometres away from his country and family, with two children still at a tender age.”

Italy is asking an international arbitration panel to order India to free a marine who has been detained since 2012 because of his alleged involvement in the shooting deaths of two fishermen during an anti-piracy operation.

Italy’s Ambassador to the Netherlands, Francesco Azzarello, on Wednesday told the Permanent Court of Arbitration that Sgt. Salvatore Girone should be allowed to return home immediately, saying “he is obliged to live thousands of kilometres away from his country and family, with two children still at a tender age.”

In retrospect

Sgt. Girone and fellow marine Massimiliano Latorre were assigned to anti-piracy duty aboard an Italian oil tanker off India’s coast at the time.

The men were detained and had to stay in India without formal charges. Marine Latorre has since been allowed home after suffering a stroke.