Jailed Italian Marine Guards have been shifted to Borstal School in Kochi from Trivandrum Central Prison.
Italian Marines Latorre Massimillano and Salvatore Girone were first sentenced by a court in Kollam to 14 days’ custody Feb 20 after they shot dead two Indian fishermen, Ajesh Binki, 25, and Gelastine, 45, allegedly mistaking them as pirates. The two Marines were serving as the security crew on cargo vessel Enrica Lexie Feb 15, when the shooting took place off Alappuzha in Kerala.
The decision to shift the two Marines from the jail to the Borstal School in Kochi came after they moved the apex court early this month. The court asked the state government to address their demand for rights and privileges accorded to serving defence personnel of foreign countries if convicted in an alien country, officials said.
A Borstal is a reformatory for juveniles. Before moving to Kochi, the two marines were presented before the chief judicial magistrate’s court here Friday as their judicial custody period was ending.
The magistrate extended the judicial custody of the two and directed the case be posted to the district sessions court for the trial that is expected to commence shortly, as the police last week submitted a 196-page charge sheet.
The court also directed the two Marines to appear before the trial court when the trial starts.
From here, the Marines were taken to the recently renovated Borstal School.