Will honour pact with Italy, no death penalty for marines, says Shinde

After frayed ties between the two nations and subsequent diplomatic resolution, the Indian government has promised that the two Italian marines accused of killing two fishermen will not face the capital punishment, despite being charged under laws under which the maximum punishment is death. “The government has made an international commitment to Italy that the marines will not face a death sentence. It will be honoured,” Shinde told the Economic Times. The Home Secretary was also quoted as saying that the government had decided to invoke a section of the Extradition Act which could allow them to override provisions in other laws. [caption id=“attachment_691411” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Read my lips, no death penalty for Italian marines. PTI[/caption] The two marines, Massimiliano Latore and Salvatore Girone, were on board an Italian vessel ‘Enrica Lexie’ when they allegedly shot dead two Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast on 15 February, last year. The Home Minister’s statement comes after other government officials also clarified that they would not seek the capital punishment for the two Italian marines. The NIA has registered an FIR under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code, Section 3 of the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against Safety of Maritime Navigation and Fixed Platforms on Continental Shelf Act (SUA), the punishment for which is death. The government had justified ensuring that the marines don’t face the death penalty to ensure that it doesn’t affect other cases of extradition in the future. “We cannot go back on the commitment given to a sovereign nation. If we do that, no country will cooperate with India in future in any such case,” an unnamed official was quoted as saying .