Italian marines will not face death penalty - India's attorney general
Reuters
February 8, 2014, 1:27 am
Italian sailors Salvatore Girone (R) and Massimiliano Latorre leave the police commissioner office in the southern Indian city of Kochi January 18, 2013. Two Italian sailors charged with killing two Indian fishermen on Friday lost their Supreme Court bid to be tried on home soil, a victory for New Delhi in a diplomatic tussle over jurisdiction that has strained ties between the two countries. REUTERS/Sivaram V
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Two Italian marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen will not face the death penalty, India's attorney general said on Friday.
India's home ministry has altered a sanction given last month to the country's National Investigation Agency, which had originally granted permission to charge the men under a strict maritime security law carrying the death penalty, Goolam E. Vahanvati told Reuters.
"The sanction had included the death penalty, and they have withdrawn that," Vahanvati said, adding that the men will still be tried under this law but will not face the gallows.
(Reporting by Shyamantha Asokan; editing by Malini Menon)
