Defiant Italy calls for international arbitration

Sticking to its ground, Italy has again said it has legal basis in seeking international arbitration in the case of the Italian marines charged with killing two Indian fishermen.

Sticking to its ground, Italy has again said it has legal basis in seeking international arbitration in the case of the Italian marines charged with killing two Indian fishermen.

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“We have juridically solid reasons to proceed in the direction of international arbitration,” Italian foreign minister Giulio Terzi told reporters as he arrived at an international conference being hosted by an Israeli think-tank in the city of Herzliya.

“The Indian government is amply apprised of all it needs to know about our reasons, as do many of our partners,” Terzi said.

Italy has been saying that judgment by the Supreme Court of India on January 18 has denied Italian jurisdiction on the case and invited both countries to engage in a common effort based upon Article 100 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The article says: all states shall cooperate to the fullest possible extent in the repression of piracy on the high seas or in any other place outside the jurisdiction of any state.

Italy says that the marines have been on official duty.