Italy to pay US$200 000 to Indian fishermen’s families

have been finalised, “but the actual signing is yet to be done.”
The government’s criminal case against the two marines — who were detained by Indian authorities after the shootings — would be unaffected by the settlement and continue in the courts of the south Indian state of Kerala, lawyers for both families said.
“The criminal case has been initiated by the state. The family doesn’t have control over that,” Syamkumar said.
The case has tested India’s relationship with Italy, which maintains that it should have jurisdiction over the marines because they are active military personnel and the incident took place in international waters.
A lawyer for the government of India yesterday told India’s Supreme Court that he had doubts that the Kerala police had acted within their jurisdiction, as the ship was in international waters.
“In my view, if the finding of the division bench was correct and the ship was at 20,5 nautical miles at the time, I have my doubts whether the Kerala police had jurisdiction,” said additional solicitor general Haren Raval, who is representing the government in a case over the release of the ship the marines were guarding.
His comments potentially bolster Italy’s argument and suggest that the central government and the state government of Kerala may have divergent views on the case.
Italy yesterday opened another front in its efforts to bring the marines home. The embassy filed a petition with the Supreme Court, asking for the release of the two marines into Italian custody, said a diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.
The two marines are now in a jail in Kerala.
A lawyer for the widow of slain fisherman Valantine called the argument that Italy has jurisdiction “an absurdity.” He said that under international law, an Indian ship should be considered Indian territory and because the deaths happened on an Indian ship – even if it was in international waters – the men should be tried in an Indian court.
“The deaths happened in Indian territory, therefore India has absolute jurisdiction,” he said.
The lawyer said the Kerala High Court yesterday accepted the family petition for an out-of-court settlement in the compensation suit. He expects the matter to be finalised  next Tuesday.
He said the agreement was reached late last week in the presence of a local priest and the chief of staff of Italy’s Defence Ministry, Pasquale Preziosa.
If the settlement with the families goes through, the families would withdraw their civil complaint for compensation against the marines and withdraw requests for criminal action to be initiated against the ship’s captain, Syamkumar said.
Italy’s defence minister confirmed that Italy had agreed to give the families money, but declined to say how much and insisted on calling it “a donation, an act of generosity,” which entailed no legal quid pro quo.
Minister Giampaolo Di Paola, on a visit to Moscow for Italian-Russian talks, told journalists Friday that the payment has “nothing to do” with the judicial procedures in progress. He pressed Italy’s position that the incident happened in international waters and insisted that Italy would “go to bat with force” to have its position recognised that jurisdiction for the case belongs to Italy.
Pink’s aunt, Janet Mary Koyilvilakom, said she and Pink’s sisters met with Italian officials and a local priest at the Mascot Hotel in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday, April 13.
She said her family initially wanted about  US$400,000, against Italy’s initial offer of US$134,615.
She said dowry demands in the area are exorbitant and that she hopes to use the money to get Pink’s two sisters wed.
“After the death of Ajeesh Pink, his sisters are in a poor condition,” she said. “I can marry them off with this money.”
Valantine’s son Derrick (18) said he and his 10-year-old brother have faced financial difficulties since their father died.
“My father was the only earning member in our family,” said Derrick, who hopes to get a degree in engineering. “This amount is the sole resource for our education and also for the very sustenance of my family in the coming days.” — AP.