Chief Minister Oommen Chandy wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday urging him that the trial of Italian marines Massimilano Lattore and Salvatore Girone, accused of killing two fishermen off the Kerala coast, should be conducted at the Kollam District and Sessions Court.
The session court in Kollam should be designated as special court for the trial of the accused as contemplated by the Supreme Court.
The Chief Minister said all records related to the case and evidence collected were now before the Kollam sessions court. If the special court was set up in Delhi or elsewhere, the witnesses would have to travel frequently to Delhi or other places.
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Besides, many volumes of records would have to be translated from Malayalam. So holding of the trial in Kollam was needed for the speedy trial of the accused.
Mr. Chandy thanked the Prime Minister, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Defence Minister A.K. Antony and Minister for External Affairs Salman Khurshid for diplomatic efforts to bring back the marines from Italy to stand trial in India.
The people of Kerala valued their stand. It would help to ensure justice to the family of the victims and buttress confidence in the judicial system of the country, he said.
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