ITALY SHIP ROW: Killing of fishermen.

[Steel]

---

---

An Italian cargo ship fired at an Indian fishing boat that it mistook for a pirate vessel, killing two fishermen, India's navy said on Thursday.

The ship identified as the Enrica Lexie fired at the fishermen in waters off Kerala on Wednesday, a navy statement said.

The Indian coast guard and navy vessels escorted the Italian ship to the nearby port city of Kochi and were questioning the captain and crew.

The owner of the fishing vessel, who goes by the single name Freddy, said on Thursday the firing was unprovoked. The boat was fishing when the ship opened fire, killing the two fishermen instantly, he said.

Nine other fishermen onboard the craft survived.

Piracy has emerged as a major threat to merchant ships traversing the sea lanes of the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea. Pirates based in Somalia have been hijacking ships and holding the vessels and their crew for ransom.

Several countries, including India, allow ship owners to deploy armed security guards on ships. Ship owners say the move has proved effective and prevented hijackings.

Italian ship fires on Indian fishing boat, 2 dead - The Times of India


To Mods: If the thread is not in appropriate section than plse move it to appropriate section

[Steel]

India summons Italian envoy over death of 2 fishermen
India on Thursday summoned the Italian ambassador here and lodged a strong protest over killing of its two fishermen allegedly by security guards of an Italian ship off Kollam coast on suspicion of being pirates.

However, Italian ambassador Giacomo Sanfelice di Monteforte, who was summoned by Ministry of External Affairs by secretary (west) M Ganapathi, said his country's navy followed the international protocol.

Two fishermen in a boat were killed after guards onboard the Italian merchant vessel fired at them off Alapuzha coast last evening, suspecting them to be pirates.

After the meeting here, the envoy said the facts of the case are yet to be clarified.

"We are working in very close cooperation with Indian authorities. It is in any case a very sad incident. What I want to underline is that the Italian ship moved voluntarily into the Kochi port," he told reporters.

Official sources said there were 11 fishermen in the boat at the time of the incident out of which 9 were sleeping and the driver and another person who were awake were shot dead.

"There was no prior warning as reported by the crew," the sources said, adding the matter was now being investigated by the Navy, Coast Guard and local police.

Asked about the firing, the envoy said: "The Italian navy followed the international protocol as it was approached by a vessel which did not stop when flash lights were sent."

The crew of 'Enrica Lexie' is being questioned by police in the ship itself since morning.

The vessel, which reached Kochi late last night, was anchored off the Kochi coast.

Senior police officials from the Mattancherry, Fort Kochi police stations along with the Coastguard officials went in a Coastguard vessel to the Italian ship. Coastguard sources said the Italian Consul General is expected to reach Kochi this evening.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/i...w/11912806.cms

[DragonKnight]

Seems the Italians hired some people who will kill anybody seen in a small boat or dinghy.....

[Manmohan Yadav]

how the heck did those Idiots mistake them for Pirates.

have been arrested or not,
or will be just a protest and thats it.

[Averageamerican]

Expect there is more to this story then we are hearing at this point.

[Vritra]

FFS, Italy, you lost the MRCA deal, get over it!

[Steel]

India lodges strong protest over killing of fishermen




India on Thursday summoned Italy’s Ambassador and lodged a strong protest over the killing of its two fishermen in firing by security guards of an Italian ship off the Kerala coast suspecting them to be pirates, terming the incident “serious and unfortunate“.

As the incident on Wednesday triggered a diplomatic row between India and Italy, Italian Ambassador Giacomo Sanfelice di Monteforte, who was summoned by Ministry of External Affairs by Secretary (West) M Ganapathi, said his country’s Navy followed the international protocol.

Two fishermen in a boat including its driver were shot dead when guards onboard the merchant vessel ‘Enrica Lexie’ fired at their boat carrying 11 fishermen off Kollam coast, suspecting the group to be a band of pirates.

After the meeting in Delhi, the envoy said the facts of the case are yet to be clarified.

“We are working in very close cooperation with Indian authorities. It is in any case a very sad incident. What I want to underline is that the Italian ship moved voluntarily into the Kochi port,” he told reporters.

Asked about the firing incident, the envoy said: “The Italian Navy followed the international protocol as it was approached by a vessel which did not stop when flash lights were sent.

The vessel was anchored off the Kochi coast and its crew is being questioned by the police in the ship itself.

Official sources said there were 11 fishermen in the boat at the time of the incident out of whom 9 were sleeping and the driver and another person who were awake were shot dead.

“There was no prior warning as reported by the crew,” the sources said, adding the matter was now being investigated by the Navy, Coast Guard and local police.

Reacting to the incident, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said: “It is very serious and unfortunate.”

He said investigations are on and law will take its own course in the matter.

Underlining that strict vigil is maintained by the authorities, he said, “Kerala police and Coast Guard officers are visiting the people concerned... We will keep a strict vigil and we want everything as per law.”

“At this stage, saying too much is not correct. But I can tell you that law will take its own course,” Antony said.

The bodies of the two dead fishermen -- Ajesh Binki (25) and Jalastein (45) -- were brought to Kollam last night by Coast Guard and Marine Enforcement authorities.

The bodies were being sent for post-mortem to the Medical College Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram after completion of the initial legal formalities, Kollam police said.

The preliminary assessment of the marine authorities is that armed guards aboard the ship might have fired at the fishing boat mistaking it for a vessel of pirates, official sources in Kollam said.

Senior police officials from the Mattancherry, Fort Kochi police stations along with Coastguard officials went in a Coastguard vessel to the Italian ship.

Coastguard sources said the Italian Consul General is expected to reach Kochi this evening.

In the aftermath of the firing incident, the Coast Guard had launched two ships ‘Sumar’ and ‘Lakshmi Bai’ and an aircraft to trace the ship, located it and asked it to anchor off Kochi for a detailed investigation.

Meanwhile, the Kerala government announced a solatium of Rs 5 lakh for the families of the deceased fishermen who belonged to Colachal area in Kanyakumari district in neighbouring Tamil Nadu but had settled in Kerala for the last several years.

The district administration announced an emergency relief payment of Rs 10,000 each for the kin of the killed.

The fishermen had set sail two days ago from Neendakara in Kollam district.



The Hindu : News / National : India lodges strong protest over killing of fishermen

[Jungibaaz]

WTF!
shoot on suspicion?!

R.I.P to fishermen

[Tantrika]

India lodges strong protest over killing of fishermen




India on Thursday summoned Italy’s Ambassador and lodged a strong protest over the killing of its two fishermen in firing by security guards of an Italian ship off the Kerala coast suspecting them to be pirates, terming the incident “serious and unfortunate“.

As the incident on Wednesday triggered a diplomatic row between India and Italy, Italian Ambassador Giacomo Sanfelice di Monteforte, who was summoned by Ministry of External Affairs by Secretary (West) M Ganapathi, said his country’s Navy followed the international protocol.

Two fishermen in a boat including its driver were shot dead when guards onboard the merchant vessel ‘Enrica Lexie’ fired at their boat carrying 11 fishermen off Kollam coast, suspecting the group to be a band of pirates.

After the meeting in Delhi, the envoy said the facts of the case are yet to be clarified.

“We are working in very close cooperation with Indian authorities. It is in any case a very sad incident. What I want to underline is that the Italian ship moved voluntarily into the Kochi port,” he told reporters.

Asked about the firing incident, the envoy said: “The Italian Navy followed the international protocol as it was approached by a vessel which did not stop when flash lights were sent.

The vessel was anchored off the Kochi coast and its crew is being questioned by the police in the ship itself.

Official sources said there were 11 fishermen in the boat at the time of the incident out of whom 9 were sleeping and the driver and another person who were awake were shot dead.

“There was no prior warning as reported by the crew,” the sources said, adding the matter was now being investigated by the Navy, Coast Guard and local police.

Reacting to the incident, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said: “It is very serious and unfortunate.”

He said investigations are on and law will take its own course in the matter.

Underlining that strict vigil is maintained by the authorities, he said, “Kerala police and Coast Guard officers are visiting the people concerned... We will keep a strict vigil and we want everything as per law.”

“At this stage, saying too much is not correct. But I can tell you that law will take its own course,” Antony said.

The bodies of the two dead fishermen -- Ajesh Binki (25) and Jalastein (45) -- were brought to Kollam last night by Coast Guard and Marine Enforcement authorities.

The bodies were being sent for post-mortem to the Medical College Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram after completion of the initial legal formalities, Kollam police said.

The preliminary assessment of the marine authorities is that armed guards aboard the ship might have fired at the fishing boat mistaking it for a vessel of pirates, official sources in Kollam said.

Senior police officials from the Mattancherry, Fort Kochi police stations along with Coastguard officials went in a Coastguard vessel to the Italian ship.

Coastguard sources said the Italian Consul General is expected to reach Kochi this evening.

In the aftermath of the firing incident, the Coast Guard had launched two ships ‘Sumar’ and ‘Lakshmi Bai’ and an aircraft to trace the ship, located it and asked it to anchor off Kochi for a detailed investigation.

Meanwhile, the Kerala government announced a solatium of Rs 5 lakh for the families of the deceased fishermen who belonged to Colachal area in Kanyakumari district in neighbouring Tamil Nadu but had settled in Kerala for the last several years.

The district administration announced an emergency relief payment of Rs 10,000 each for the kin of the killed.

The fishermen had set sail two days ago from Neendakara in Kollam district.



The Hindu : News / National : India lodges strong protest over killing of fishermen

Original Post By Steel

I am really happy to see the GOI action.

But SL navy killed nearly 483 tamilnadu fisherman but no actions taken yet. why???? our lives are so cheap ryt?? why AK Anthony expressing so much frustration and deployed some coast guard ship to trace?? becoz those victims are keralites ryt?? I am not talking against our national integration but their actions forcing us to think like that , we are not the citizens of India? TN betrayed India in any case? whether our actions were anti-nationals?. okay ...... RIP to the dead

[SajeevJino]

I am really happy to see the GOI action.

But SL navy killed nearly 483 tamilnadu fisherman but no actions taken yet. why???? our lives are so cheap ryt?? why AK Anthony expressing so much frustration and deployed some coast guard ship to trace?? becoz those victims are keralites ryt?? I am not talking against our national integration but their actions forcing us to think like that , we are not the citizens of India? TN betrayed India in any case? whether our actions were anti-nationals?. okay ...... RIP to the dead

Original Post By Tantrika

agree with you.........for everybody have a same judgement.....What about the Action takes by our Navy .......

Indian Government must reply what they have done for Tamil Nadu Fisherman......

[mikhail]

I am really happy to see the GOI action.

But SL navy killed nearly 483 tamilnadu fisherman but no actions taken yet. why???? our lives are so cheap ryt?? why AK Anthony expressing so much frustration and deployed some coast guard ship to trace?? becoz those victims are keralites ryt?? I am not talking against our national integration but their actions forcing us to think like that , we are not the citizens of India? TN betrayed India in any case? whether our actions were anti-nationals?. okay ...... RIP to the dead

Original Post By Tantrika

mate its very sad to hear that nearly 500 of our compatriots have been viciously murdered by the bl**dy lankan navy.i can understand ur level of frustation becoz i also hail from one of those regions which is historically neglected by GOI.but the fact is as long as we have that traitor party in the centre we can't do much about this issue.i can only pray for all those innocent lives which were taken in cold blood by our so called neighbours!RIP to those innocent souls!

[Steel]

Diplomatic row brewing over killing of fishermen off Kerala

The killing on Wednesday, by Italian naval personnel stationed on an oil tanker, of two fishermen who had set out to sea from the Neendakara fishing harbour in Kerala, is threatening to escalate into a diplomatic row.

The coastal police on Thursday registered a case of murder against the guards of the ship.

Even as the threat of piracy in the Indian Ocean has led governments and private companies to deploy armed guards on board, the latest killings have focussed attention on the potentially lethal outcomes of the practice.

“There is no doubt that the shooting took place in Indian territorial waters,” a Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson told The Hindu in New Delhi. “We told Italy we expect its full cooperation with the investigation.”

Italian Ambassador Giacomo Sanfelice di Monteforte was summoned by the MEA on Thursday. Mr. di Monteforte later said his country's Navy had followed procedures before opening fire, but promised cooperation. “What I want to underline,” he said, “is that the Italian ship moved voluntarily into the Kochi port.”

Defence Minister A.K. Antony described the killings as “very serious and unfortunate.” “At this stage,” he said in New Delhi, “saying too much is not correct. But I can tell you law will take its own course.” Italian news agency Agenzia Giornalistica Italia had earlier reported that naval riflemen from the San Marco Battalion had “thwarted an attempt made by pirates to board the ship 30 miles west of the southern Indian coast.” “The soldiers,” it said, had “followed procedures, opening fire three times so as to dissuade them. After the third volley the pirates left.”

Vice-Admiral K.N. Sushil, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Southern Naval Command, told The Hindu in Kochi that there was no evidence to show that the vessel had been attacked.

“It is crystal-clear that the fishermen were unarmed and were not attempting to come alongside the tanker to board it,” the Vice-Admiral said. “As the tanker crew claims to have been fired upon, I sent the fast-attack craft INS Kabra to ascertain if there were bullet marks on it. It went around the ship to find that there were none.”

Last year, Indian naval operations led to more than 100 arrests following attacks on merchant ships by Somali pirates. However, the continued threat has led many governments to allow military and private armed guards been stationed onboard ships transiting through the Indian Ocean. In January alone, 37 ships were attacked. Ten vessels and 159 crew members are being held hostage in Somalia.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nationa...?homepage=true

[G777]

how the heck did those Idiots mistake them for Pirates.

have been arrested or not,
or will be just a protest and thats it.

Original Post By Manmohan Yadav

Costa Concordia

[ManuSankar]

I am really happy to see the GOI action.

But SL navy killed nearly 483 tamilnadu fisherman but no actions taken yet. why???? our lives are so cheap ryt?? why AK Anthony expressing so much frustration and deployed some coast guard ship to trace?? becoz those victims are keralites ryt?? I am not talking against our national integration but their actions forcing us to think like that , we are not the citizens of India? TN betrayed India in any case? whether our actions were anti-nationals?. okay ...... RIP to the dead

Original Post By Tantrika

Now,Don't get emotional over all this.Those things happened under different circumstances.SL Navy open fire on Tamil fishermen on their territorial waters.Even though killing fishermen for just violating maritime border is wrong we have no authority to bring those men under book.Its still unclear where this incident happened.If it happened with in 12 nautical miles range of Indian territorial waters we can legally prosecute the crew for manslaughter.If this has happened in International waters we can't take legal action but we can force Italian authorities to do it.There is absolutely no partial treatment of our citizens over this incident.

[Vritra]

Costa Concordia

Original Post By G777

Seriously, they probably suspected them of being, I dunno, Somalii pirates or something of the sort. If they tried establishing communcations, and it didn't work, then no shit, these are Indian fishermen. A more diplomatic approach, like sending a patrol chopper would've been smarter than FIRING on them.