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}} On 15 February 2012, Italian marines operating as part of an anti-piracy Vessel Protection Detachment (VPD) on-board Italian-flagged commercial oil tanker ''MT Enrica Lexie'', allegedly opened fire on the ''St. Antony'' killing two Indian fisherman on board. Ballistics tests undertaken subsequently linked weapons used by two members of the VPD team aboard the MT Enrica Lexie to fragments of the bullets that killed the two Indian fisherman. The incident occurred about 20.5 nautical miles from the Indian coast according to the Italian submission to the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). The incident has sparked a conflict of opinions over legal jurisdiction and functional immunity between the governments of India and Italy. In addition, it continues to cause diplomatic tension between the two nations. The episode raised questions concerning the use of armed guards by commercial shipping.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Private Security and Armed Military Guards: Minimising State Liability in the Fight Against Maritime Piracy )〕 A senior Indian Government official is reported to have accused the maritime industry of causing the ''Enrica Lexie'' incident commenting that it was a "direct result" of the High Risk Area for piracy extending to the Indian coastline. == Events Chronology == On 15 February 2012, Indian nationals Ajesh Binki and Valentine aboard the St Antony were killed allegedly as a result of gunshot wounds following a confrontation with the Enrica Lexie in international waters, off the Indian coast. The nature of the confrontation has been in contention. The MV ''Enrica Lexie'' was travelling from Singapore to Egypt with a crew of 34 including 19 Indians and accompanied by six Italian navy marines, Captain of the St Antony, Freddie Louis claimed that his vessel was returning from its fishing expedition in the Laccadive Sea when men on board the Enrica Lexie began firing at them without provocation for approximately two minutes.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= tehelka: Standoff between Kerala police and Italian ship continues )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Gulf Times: Two killed as Italian ship fires on Indian fishing boat )〕〔 According to the Indian Coast Guard and crew of the St Antony, the incident occurred at approximately 16:30 IST on 15 February 2012 when the ''St Antony'' was approximately 20.5 nautical miles off the Indian coast within the Contiguous Zone (CZ) area of India's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). After the incident, the ''Enrica Lexie'' was intercepted in the Lakshadweep archipelago and compelled to proceed to Kochi port by the Indian Coast Guard. The Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi, in an open letter to Italian newspaper ''Eco di Bergamo'', alleged that "the entering of the ''Enrica Lexie'' into Indian waters has been the result of a subterfuge by the local police, who required the ship master to head for the port of Kochi in order to contribute to the identification of some suspected pirates." On 30 March 2013, Indian Foreign minister Salman Khurshid rejected claims of subterfuge as unsubstantiated. Two Italian special corp Marines, Sgt Massimiliano Latorre and Sgt Salvatore Girone, were remanded to judicial custody for interrogation on charges of homicide under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. Based on the postmortem carried out on 16 February 2012, Kerala Police charged the two marines with murder. The autopsy linked the 5.56mm NATO ammunition with the guns used by the two marines. On 4 April 2013, the Indian National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a FIR against the two Italian marines in relation to charges including murder, attempted murder, mischief, conspiracy. In January 2014, India decided to prosecute the Italian marines under the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (SUA). The SUA Convention was passed in 1988 with the goal of suppressing international terrorism. Italy criticised the prosecution pursuant to the SUA Convention as equating the incident to an act of terrorism.〔 On 7 March 2014, the India dropped the SUA charges against the marines. On 7 February 2014, the charges were downgraded from murder to violence meaning the marines would not face the death penalty if convicted. In June 2013, Italian media reported that four other members of the VPD team were not in the ship's citadel after the general alarm was sounded and speculated that the two marines held in India might have taken responsibility for the actions of other members of the VPD team. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Enrica Lexie case」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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