INDIA: India's Foreign Ministry says it will follow a court order preventing the Italian Ambassador Daniele Mancini from leaving the country

Record ID: 1375189

  • Title: INDIA: India's Foreign Ministry says it will follow a court order preventing the Italian Ambassador Daniele Mancini from leaving the country
  • Date: 18th March 2013
  • Summary: NEW DELHI, INDIA (MARCH 18, 2013) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (ANI-NO ACCESS BBC) INDIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN, SYED AKBARUDDIN, TAKING HIS SEAT IN A NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) INDIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN, SYED AKBARUDDIN, SAYING: "We did receive a communication or a note verbale from the ministry of foreign affairs of Italy on the 15th, through our mission in Rome. And that note verbale drew our attention to the provisions of Vienna Convention, regarding diplomatic agents. Of course we are conscious of the provisions of the Vienna Convention and our obligations under the Vienna Convention. But we are also bound by the directions of the honourable Supreme Court on this matter." EXTERIOR OF INDIA'S SUPREME COURT THE INDIAN FLAG OUTSIDE THE SUPREME COURT NEW DELHI, INDIA (RECENT - MARCH 13, 2013) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (ANI-NO ACCESS BBC) ITALIAN AMBASSADOR TO INDIA, DANIELE MANCINI, WITH MEDIA KERALA, INDIA (FILE - 2012) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (ANI - NO ACCESS BBC) THE TWO ITALIAN MARINES, MASSIMILIANO LATORRE AND SALVATORE GIRONE BEING ESCORTED BY POLICE LATORRE AND GIRONE ENTERING COURT LATORRE AND GIRONE COMING OUT OF COURTROOM LATORRE AND GIRONE ENTERING POLICE VEHICLE LATORRE AND GIRONE SITTING INSIDE POLICE VEHICLE POLICE VEHICLE LEAVING ITALIAN SHIP 'ENRICA LEXI' DOCKED AT PORT
  • Embargoed: 2nd April 2013 20:54
  • Keywords:
  • Location: India
  • Country: India
  • Topics: Legal System,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA8LQAAN7UU36HEU82FHF9Z4PEU
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: India's foreign ministry said on Monday (March 18) it would follow a court order preventing the Italian ambassador from leaving the country, in a move likely to further escalate diplomatic tensions which soured after Rome refused to send back two marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen.
    Foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin told reporters the government was bound by the Supreme Court's decision.
    "We did receive a communication or a note verbale from the ministry of foreign affairs of Italy on the 15th, through our mission in Rome. And that note verbale drew our attention to the provisions of Vienna Convention, regarding diplomatic agents. Of course we are conscious of the provisions of the Vienna Convention and our obligations under the Vienna Convention. But we are also bound by the directions of the honourable Supreme Court on this matter," he said.
    The Vienna Convention grants immunity to the Italian envoy from arrest or detention.
    The dispute between the two countries arose after the court allowed the two Italian marines -- Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone -- to return home to vote in last month's general election. Italian envoy Daniele Mancini gave a guarantee that they would return to India. But the pair failed to come back to the country on March 22, the date set for their return.
    The marines, who were part of a security detail protecting the tanker Enrica Lexi, are accused of shooting two Indian fishermen, apparently after mistaking them for pirates off the coast of Kerala in February last year.
    India's Supreme Court said in a ruling in January that India had jurisdiction to try the marines, but Italy challenged that decision, arguing that the shooting took place in international waters.
    The sailors were sent back to Italy on February 23, a day before the country's election, after India's Supreme Court granted their request to exercise their right to vote. They were allowed to remain in Italy for four weeks.
    They also spent Christmas in Italy, after a Kerala court allowed them to join their families for a holiday, on condition they returned to India by January 10, which they did.
  • Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
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