Supermario1949
ENRICA LEXIE CASE : ITALIAN MARINES IN INDIAN LIMBO FOR OVER THREE YEARS
editThis entry is strongly critical of both India nd Italy owing to what can be termed a Kafkaesque and grotesque farce. Indian and Italian politicians have downgraded their institutions to stage a play for their respective galleries, political interests and economic lobbies.
The general public has lost track of what really boils in the pan i.e. India holding two INNOCENT navy personnel as hostages with a submissive Italy anxious to safeguard Italian military equipment supplies to India (VVIP AgustaWestLand Helicopters, Finmeccanica Black Shark Supertorpedoes, Design and Components for renovation work on aircraft carrier in Kochi, Oto Melara Naval Guns, etc.).
Owing to endless copy-paste press reports portraying the two as “killer marines”, facts have been twisted beyond recognition, so here is a compact and easily readable chronology detailing events in the period 13 Apr 2011 to 14 Jun 2012, to allow the unbiased reader to understand Kerala politics relevant to the Enrica Lexie incident, all with WHEN, WHO, WHAT, SOURCES and links.
Links = Relevant information in public domain
editUTC = Universal Time = GMT = London time
editIST = Indian Standard Time
edit??? = Uncertain points to be settled by a court (to this date no court has a charge sheet nor has any evidence been cross examined).
editDATE + UTC IST--WHERE-----------------WHO---------------------------------WHAT
editWed 13 Apr 2011-Kerala State------------CM Oommen Chandy/UDF----------------His party wins Kerala with a slim majority
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oommen_Chandy
Sun 30 Oct 2011-Piravom-----------------T.M. Jacob/UDF----------------------This member of the Kerala Assembly dies; the majority is now even slimmer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._M._Jacob
Wed 15 Feb 2012-Some 20nm off Allepey---Tanker Enrica Lexie-----------------Radar warns of unidentified boat 3nm ahead.
1030 1600-------------------------------1st Cdr Umberto Vitelli-------------Alarm signal to SSAS + ship-owners D’Amato.
'----------------------------------------Unidentified Robbers----------------Boat repelled by some 20 warning shots in water.
'----------------------------------------Latorre and Girone------------------Fired ONLY some 20 warning shots in 3 volleys.
'----------------------------------------2nd Cdr Carlo Noviello--------------Eye witness for shots in water states pirate boat WAS NOT St Antony
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6qiedf9ttMs - (min. 0.43 of this video)
1100 1630-------------------------------1st Cdr Umberto Vitelli-------------Also sent report to MRCC Rome (see Pt.2 in this link):
http://indiankanoon.org/doc/191738505/?type=print
'----------------------------------------1st Cdr Umberto Vitelli-------------Italian Navy Grecale calls from Arabian Sea.
1300 1830-------------------------------Tanker Enrica Lexie-----------------MRCC Mumbai checks info of MRCC Rome.
1346 1916-------------------------------------------------------------------Sent report to MSCHoA London, UKMTO Dubai.
http://www.oggi.it/attualita/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/01/Schermata-2015-01-20A152B4.png
1550 2120-------Kayamkulam?-------------St Antony fishing boat--------------Time of shooting stated later in Neendakara (near Kollam).
'-----------------(near Kollam)-----------Binki and Jelestine-----------------Fishermen shot dead during 2 mins of continuous firing.
'-----------------------------------------Freddie Bosco (skipper)-------------Sole witness as all others were sleeping.
'-----------------------------------------------------------------------------He then called by VHF his friend Prabhu in Kayamkulam.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya48kLyjyB4
1550 2120?------Kayamkulam?-------------Unknown boat with same robbers?-----After Lexie, repeat attack on Greek tanker Olympic Flair?
1550 2120?------Kayamkulam?-------------Tanker Olympic Flair?---------------Same red and black tanker seen by Freddie?
1550 2120?------Kayamkulam?-------------St Antony fishing boat?-------------In crossfire between robbers and tanker?
'-----------------No reliable place-------Greek Tanker Olympic Flair----------Reports 1h later a night attack by 2 boats with 20 persons
'-----------------------------------------------------------------------------(but won't mention firearms).
http://www.imo.org/OurWork/Security/PiracyArmedRobbery/Reports/Documents/182-Feb2012.pdf (go to page 17)
1606 2136-------Mumbai------------------Indian Coast Guard------------------Deception call to Lexie: request identify pirate boats arrested and held
'-----------------------------------------------------------------------------in Kochi. Call confirmation at 4.06pm UTC = 2136 IST.
http://espresso.repubblica.it/attualita/cronaca/2013/07/09/news/maro-in-india-le-balle-di-canale-5-1.56452
(scroll down to second photo "original message" then enlarge it)
1606 2136-------Mumbai------------------2nd Cdr Carlo Noviello--------------At min.1.55 in this video Noviello states that he himself
'-----------------------------------------------------------------------------answered the Mumbai deception call.
http://video.repubblica.it/dossier/enrica-lexie/il-comandante-in-seconda-non-sono-stati-i-maro-a-colpire-i-pescatori/122037/120524
1606 2136-------Mumbai------------------Indian Coast Guard------------------Deception leaked to Indian press.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/smart-move-brings-ship-to-kochi/231445-60-116.html
1617 2147-------Rome--------------------Italian Navy HQ---------------------ITALIAN ERROR Order given in good faith order to leave
'-----------------------------------------------------------------------------international waters for Kochi
'-----------------------------------------------------------------------------(no-one expected to be cheated by the Coast Guard).
'-----------------40nm away from Kochi----Tanker Enrica Lexie-----------------Detour advice to MSCHoA, UKMTO, D’Amato (see this LONG link).
http://www.google.it/imgres?
mgurl=http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/attachment.php%253Fattachmentid%253D204241%2526d%253D1373322813&imgrefurl=http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?208897-Two-fishermen-shot-dead-by-Italian-ship-off-Kerala-coast/page47&h=485&w=1062&tbnid=Oy9QI_Uj4lh9dM:&zoom=1&docid=OA55uMZjW4HdVM&itg=1&ei=zczEVMaIConWapKQgqgG&tbm=isch&ved=0CHcQMyhJMEk&biw=1289&bih=684
'-----------------Halfway to Kochi--------ICGS Plane and ships----------------ICGS legend: the Lexie was not chased, but merely reached.
'-----------------Rome--------------------Italian FM Terzi--------------------Warned too late when the Lexie was already inside territorial waters.
1650 2220-------No certainty------------Tanker Olympic Flair----------------Her IMO report is ignored by ICGS.
'-----------------------------------------------------------------------------Her transponder switched off for days to hide her presence.
1730 2300-------Kochi mooring-----------Tanker Enrica Lexie-----------------Docks at external anchorage off Kochi port.
1745 2315-------Neendakara Harbour------St Antony fishing boat--------------Arrival in harbour with two dead fishermen is filmed in Malayalam by TV
'-----------------------------------------------------------------------------Venad News (ignored by prosecution but translated by Italians over a year
'-----------------------------------------------------------------------------later in June 2013). Freddie Bosco at min.2.05 states “ompathu irupathu”
'-----------------------------------------------------------------------------i.e. 9.20pm as the time of shooting against St Antony.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya48kLyjyB4
Thu 16 Feb------Kerala state------------Visibility at night-----------------Total darkness at sea. 1.06am waning moon.
'-----------------------------------------------------------------------------Insert date 15.02.2012 to check Moon records via this link:
http://www.timebie.com/moon/kollamin.php
'-----------------Trivandrum--------------Dr K. Sasikala----------------------Autopsy on Binki and Jelestine finds a bullet CIRCUMFERENCE of 20-24mm
'-----------------------------------------------------------------------------giving a DIAMETER 7.62mm suitable for AK47 (Nato uses 5.56mm).
'-----------------------------------------------------------------------------Dr Sasikala gets a no-disclosure order to hide this discrepancy.
Fri 17 Feb------Kanyakumari-------------Ajesh Binki (25)--------------------Buried with no time lost after autopsy.
'-----------------Kollam------------------Jelestine (45)----------------------Buried with no time lost after autopsy.
Sat 19 Feb------Rome--------------------Italian PM Monti--------------------GROSS ITALIAN ERROR: Rome orders marines to surrender to police.
Sat 19 Feb------Kochi-------------------Latorre and Girone------------------Kerala Police force board ship, two marines arrested but state they
'-----------------------------------------------------------------------------do not recognise Indian authority, held as forced “Guests”
'-----------------------------------------------------------------------------at CISF Guesthouse, Willingdon Island.
Mon 05 Mar------Trivandrum--------------Central Prison----------------------Marines in jail, not as PoW but as criminals.
Thu 08 Mar------Trivandrum--------------Central Prison----------------------A further irritant: a cobra joins inmates.
http://m.ibnlive.com/news/cobra-pays-a-visit-to-central-jail/237299-60-123.html
Fri 09 Mar------Nayyattinkara-----------R. Selvaraj-------------------------Resigns from Kerala assembly; another seat Chandy has to fight for.
Sun 17 Mar------Piravom-----------------Anoop Jacob (son)-------------------Though a newcomer Chandy's “Killer Marines” campaign wins him seat.
http://m.hindustantimes.com/india-news/kerala-bypoll-anoop-jacob-wins-piravom/article1-828563.aspx
Tue 24 Apr------Kollam------------------Deputy FM De Mistura----------------GROSS ITALIAN ERROR: A €150,000 gift is agreed with each family,
'-----------------------------------------------------------------------------The innocent marines are now made guilty before world public opinion.
'-----------------------------------------CM Oomman Chandy--------------------SUSPICION: Deal orchestrated to satisfy fishermen union?
Fri 27 Apr------Kollam------------------Deputy FM De Mistura----------------GROSS ITALIAN ERROR: A € 26,000 gift is agreed with Freddie Bosco,
'-----------------------------------------------------------------------------again confirming apparent guilt to 1.2 Bln Indians and 60 Mln Italians.
'-----------------------------------------CM Oomman Chandy--------------------SUSPICION: Deal orchestrated to satisfy Freddie?
Fri 18 May------Delhi-------------------Deputy FM De Mistura----------------GROSS ITALIAN ERROR: During an interview inept De Mistura makes
'-----------------------------------------------------------------------------the two innocent marines appear guilty instead.
http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/italy-for-international-law-in-marines-case_776239.html
Fri 18 May------Kollam------------------Chief Judicial Magistrate Court-----PC Kumar fully exploits 90-day limit before submitting charge-sheet.
Fri 25 May------Kochi-------------------Chief Jud. Mag. Court---------------Latorre and Girone transferred to Borstal School.
Wed 30 May------Kochi-------------------Kerala High Court-------------------Marines allowed bail with daily visit to police.
Sun 03 Jun------Kochi-------------------Latorre and Girone------------------After 105 days of detention, released on bail.
http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/fishermen-killings-italian-marines-released-on-bail-486300
Tue 14 Jun 2012-Nayyattinkara-----------R. Selvaraj-------------------------Seat won: Chandy is boss of Kerala till 2016.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Selvaraj
SUBSEQUENT COVER-UP
editAfter this all subsequent actions by India and Italy are a cover-up to hide their respective blunders, hide the Kerala Congress plotters and try and save face through judicial procrastination. After the May 2012 Kerala charge-sheet, quashed by the Supreme Court in January 2013, the marines still have that same single accuser, skipper Freddie Bosco. Where in the world can a prosecution hold persons for over three years without filing and discussing a charge-sheet? The reason? Reliable evidence simply does not exist and a cross-examination of evidence in any court would result in an acquittal thus exposing India and Italy to planetary shame.
SUMMARY
editIn 2011 Chief Minister Chandy wins over, with his UDF-Congress party, the state of Kerala but only with a narrow majority which shrinks further when his Piravom assembly member dies. In April 2012 the Piravom seat will be vital and risky but the solution is about to come.
On the 15th February 2012 two separate and distinct shootings occur at sea. The first one at 1600 local time, with warning shots into the water and without victims, involving a still unidentified boat and two Italian navy marines, on official Italian State anti-piracy duty, aboard the Italian-flagged oil tanker Enrica Lexie, sailing over 20nm off Kerala, well beyond India’s 12nm territorial waters. The second shooting occurs at 2120 against the St Antony, a fishing boat, on a dark night with no moon, with continuous firing lasting some two minutes, apparently from a tanker, probably within the 12nm territorial waters, and the fishermen Binki and Jelestine are killed.
The Indian Coast Guard at that time only has two episodes on its table one occurred in the afternoon at 1600 and the other at night at 2120. The Lexie, oblivious to that second shooting, confirms at 2136 that she had been attacked at 1600 and falls into a trap requesting a brief diversion to Kochi to recognize pirate boats that had just been apprehended in Kochi. The Italian defense ministry and the tanker owners (but the Foreign Ministry will only know later) give their bona fide consent. You normally do trust any Coast Guard to assist and not deceive mariners.
Only later that night will the Lexie hear of another attack on another tanker, the Greek Olympic Flair. This tanker hid its presence for days and will only file a report at 2220, when far away and no longer reachable.
With no regard to existing discrepancies, CM Chandy later uses his Kerala police to force the events, almost certainly in cahoots with his friend AK Antony, Minister of Defence and CoastGuard boss. Keeping Kerala is also vital for the Congress Party in Delhi and its embattled leader Sonia Gandhi.
The Lexie, with the marines, is by now moored in front of Kochi. It is only too easy to create the needed culprits and accuse Latorre and Girone who fired shots but only into water. Freddie Bosco, owner of the trawler and sole real witness is pressured into changing the time of his shooting to five hours earlier in his FIR complaint, from 2120 to 1620. The Italian marines are duly framed.
Chandy and Freddie have no interest in disclosing to the Italians the statements made, when St Antony reached the Neendakara harbour, in Malayalam before TV Venad News cameras, about the shooting actually occurring at 2120, ie 9.20pm (ompathu irupathu in Malayalam).
Unfortunately Italian diplomats could only understand English and ignored that interview in Malayalam since no one imagined it contained vital evidence. It resurfaced over a year later, in June 2013, when Italian volunteers had it translated. But by then every possible error had been made by inept Swedish-Italian plenipotentiary De Mistura who, by making absurd statements and even making undue payments, transformed the two innocent marines into guilty killers in the eyes of 60 million Italians as well as 1.2 billion Indians. Why this submissive attitude by Italy? The technocrat non-political Monti government proved unable to govern anything not linked to budgetary or economic problems and buckled out of fear of jeopardizing lucrative multi-million military supplies and deals by Italian defence conglomerates, in an India that often requires kickbacks.
No wonder this sad farce was given a low profile and appeared only partially in the Italian press. After three Italian governments and over three years since the incident, no end is in sight not even with “adamant” PM Matteo Renzi at the helm.
The real culprits will never come forward as happened to many other Indian fishermen. Binki and Jelestine will never get justice. However aggrieved their families had the luck of getting, thanks to the Italian taxpayer, an undue but significant gift. A similar incident with an Indian tanker would have netted only a pittance.
Nor is justice being shown to two innocent Italian state servants who, after showing unyielding loyalty to their duties and having killed no-one, have so far merely complied with all orders received. Italian constitutional rights exclude facing any jurisdiction that even remotely considers capital punishment like India. Nevertheless they answered “Yes, Sir” when their Commander in Chief President Napolitano chose to ignore their rights and ordered them back to Delhi to face hostile India in March 2013.
LONG LIVE INDIAN AND ITALIAN DEMOCRACIES!
editThese two unfortunate Italian marines should, after three years of silence, realise that their loyalty to wily Italian politicians is misplaced. If they don’t declare their innocence in clear and uncertain terms to the Indian and Italian public, as well as the wider world, rather than innocent they will become accomplices. Or, worse still, they may be declared guilty of a crime they never committed, an outcome that would suit fine the Italian economic lobbies.
The Indians? They had elections one after the other. Nationalist BJP is now in power and new PM Narendra Modi has a lot on his mind and the two unfortunate innocent marines are the last and least of his problems.
The matter is sub judice by an Indian judiciary that also could not care less (by the way the present Supreme Court Chief Justice was a Kerala High Court judge ….....).
If the Italian government is asleep, India’s attitude is simply let sleeping dogs lie !!
May 2015
edit
Hello, I'm Hgilbert. I wanted to let you know that I undid one or more of your recent contributions to Enrica Lexie case because it did not appear constructive. If you would like to experiment, please use the sandbox. If you think I made a mistake, or if you have any questions, you can leave me a message on my talk page. HGilbert (talk) 00:55, 12 May 2015 (UTC)
Please refrain from making unconstructive edits to Wikipedia, as you did at Enrica Lexie case. Your edits appear to constitute vandalism and have been reverted or removed. If you would like to experiment, please use the sandbox. Repeated vandalism can result in the loss of editing privileges. Flyer22 (talk) 01:19, 12 May 2015 (UTC)
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