Italian marines, another delay for the trial. EU “disappointed”

After two years, the Indian Supreme Court has postponed once more its decision on the charges. Brussels: “A charge of terrorism will have important consequences in our fight against piracy.”

The Indian Supreme Court has again decided not to decide: for the 26th time, the ruling on the charges against the Italian marines was delayed. The EU was “disappointed” by the decision, and renovated its encouragement for India for avoiding the charge of terrorism.

“We are disappointed at the news that we received this morning that two years after the incident occurred, the Supreme Court has once again decided to postpone a decision on the law to be invoked in the case of the two Italian marines,” Salvatore Girone and Massimiliano Latorre, said Maja Kocijancic, who is a spokesperson for the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton. “We know that the Supreme Court is to discuss on 24 February about the possibility of applying their anti-terrorism law,” she added, “which would be inappropriate in this case.”

That is why the EU “encourages India to find as a matter of urgency a mutually satisfactory solution to this long-standing case, in accordance with international law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea,” she said. A possible charge of terrorism, she concluded, would have “important consequences for our fight against piracy.”