The decision to hold the trial in the case pertaining to the killing of two Indian fishermen by two Italian marines off the Kerala coast on February 15, 2012 in Delhi and not Kerala is likely to weaken India’s case against the Italians due to a plethora of logistical and technical problems, say legal experts.
They point out that transportation to Delhi of documents, exhibits, etc relating to the case from the Kollam court where they are presently kept, witnesses’ need for long-distance travels and translation of documents and witness’ statements from Malayalam to English for the court’s purpose and then to Italian for the marines and others on their side could cause many problems.
There are a total of 60 witnesses in the case, 32 of them Keralites and 12 from Tamil Nadu. The remaining witnesses include Captain Vitelli Umberto and other personnel of Italian oil tanker Enrica lexie from aboard which the marines had shot the two fishermen dead and five Kerala Police officials who probed the killings.
Problems are sure to arise in the transportation of the 119 documents and 46 exhibits including the modern Beretta rifles which the marines had used to shoot fishermen Jelestine of Kollam and Ajesh Binku of Kanyakumari to death. Moreover, the fishing boat involved in the incident, which will have to be examined during trial, is in Kollam under police custody.
“The witnesses from Kerala and Tamil Nadu — all of them fishermen — are unlikely to get enough time to book their train tickets to Delhi in advance. That could necessitate their travel in ordinary compartments,” said a leader of the fishermen’s outfit, Swathanthra Matsya Thozhilali Federation. “I don’t think they are going to be taken to Delhi by plane,” he said.
He also pointed out that each of these witnesses would have to stay out of work for at least a week for one day’s court proceedings in Delhi. “Already they are irked by the Government’s irresponsible approach to the case which is closely related to the everyday hazards they face from foreign ships,” he said.
Fishermen in Kollam said they would be unable to travel to Delhi and back repeatedly if the trial required that. “We are poor people and our hearths will go cold if we don’t go to sea regularly. We cannot undertake journeys to Delhi every now and then even if the Government or any other agency is ready to foot the bill,” said a fisherman from Moothakkara, Jelestine’s village.
Witnesses’ reluctance — if it happens — to appear in court repeatedly is sure to weaken India’s case, legal experts point out. It is not yet clear as to who will bear the cost of the witnesses’ travel and their stay in Delhi. As the Supreme Court has already made it clear that the Kerala Government has nothing to do with the case it is unlikely to bear such expenses.
The fisherman from Moothakkara even went to the extent of saying that the case had already lost its meaning as far as his community was concerned. “The incident took place on February 15 last year. After over a year, they are now beginning to decide on how to conduct the trial. What is in it for usIJ We are still working under the menacing shadows of huge foreign ships,” he said.