Italian marines released on bail

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After a 104-day spell behind the bars, the Italian marines Salvatorre Girone and Latorre Massimilliano were released from Borstal School at Kakkanad on bail late on Saturday after the Kollam chief judicial magistrate court accepted the sureties produced.

The marines submitted two solvent sureties of Rs 2 crore and surrendered their visa-endorsed passports before court.

A five-member Italian team was present near the Borstal School during the release and the duo was later taken to a five-star hotel in Willingdon Island. The marines will have to report to the city police commissioner daily during the bail period.

The preliminary hearing of the Italian marines’ case in the firing from the vessel Enrica Lexie on February 15 will begin on June 18 at the district sessions court in Kollam. The marines, facing murder charges, will undergo trial in the coming weeks as the court has expedited the proceedings.

District judge P.D. Rajan posted the preliminary proceedings to June 18 as the marines had to be produced before the court on production warrant. Though the defence argued that the trail proceedings should be postponed as the case on jurisdiction issue was pending with the Supreme Court, the prosecution stated that SC had already said that the trail should not be delayed on that count alone.

The prosecution also stated that the matter was a question of fact and not law that can be argued only during the trail and HC had directed that the trial proceedings be expedited.

The defence also argued that the copies of certain ballistic documents and CDs listed in the chargesheet had not been given to the accused. But, they were told that the CDs could not be given.