One of two Italian marines who spent
years in a judicial limbo after being prosecuted for killing two
Indian fishermen they mistook for pirates is suing the Italian
State for loss of earnings and inability to have more kids, the
Fatto Quotidiano newspaper reported Thursday.
Massimiliano Latorre is seeking a multi-million-euro payout from
authorities in Rome, it said.
It said Latorre may be followed by the other marine, Salvatore
Girone, in seeking judicial redress for the ordeal they went
through.
In January a Rome preliminary investigations judge (GIP)
acquitted the two Italian marines accused of killing the two
Indian fishermen off the southern coast of India after mistaking
them for pirates in 2012.
The GIP's ruling had been expected after prosecutors in December
asked the charges against Girone and Latorre to be dropped in
the deaths of Valentine Jelastine and Ajeesh Pink.
The marines were doing anti-piracy duty aboard the merchant ship
Enrica Lexie in February 2012 off the coast of Kerala when they
fired on the Indian fishing boat.
The GIP ruled, like the prosecutors, that they acted while
respecting the rules of engagement.
He said they were convinced they were under assault from
pirates.
In 2020 Italy got jurisdiction in the case after a long wrangle
with India.
A Hague tribunal ordered the payment of 1.1 million euros to the
two fishermen's families in June 2021.
photo: Latorre (L) with Girone in New Delhi in February 2014
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