Italian marines ‘entitled to immunity’ in 2012 shooting of Indian fishermen, Hague court rules

Two Italian marines blamed for killing a pair of Indian fishermen while protecting an oil tanker in 2012 are entitled to immunity from prosecution, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague has ruled.

It was decided by three votes to two that “the marines are entitled to immunity in relation to the acts that they committed during the incident,” the court said in a statement on Thursday.

Italy should, however, compensate India for the damage caused by the deadly shooting eight years ago, the judges said, leaving it to the two nations, whose relations soured significantly as a result of the incident, to figure out the amount of the payment.

The marines, who were on an anti-piracy mission protecting the Italian oil tanker ‘Enrica Lexie’ in 2012, claim that they mistook the Indian fishermen for pirates and fired a warning shot, which ended up killing them.

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