Kochi (AsiaNews) - "The report of the Forensic Sciences Laboratory is conclusive proof", says Kerala High Court lawyer Vincent Panikulangara to AsiaNews, commenting on the results of a ballistic examination on the weapons seized from the Enrica Lexie, that the Indian fishermen were killed by two Beretta ARX 160 guns. Presented this morning to the magistrate of Kollam, the report seems to condemn that the two Italian Marines Salvatore Girone and Massimiliano Latorre,the only suspects in the murder of Jelestein and Ajesh Binki, on 15 February. The results were expected since February 25, when a team of Indian and Italian experts conducted the exams.
"After examining the bullets extracted from the bodies of two fishermen - state the technicians in the report- we can confirm that it is from those two rifles. Sniper weapons were not used. We did not detect any tampering with the material seized." Of the 15 weapons and 10 thousand bullets on board the tanker, the police had seized six Beretta rifles and two Belgian Minimum machine guns.
According to the lawyer, the report "does not change the present scenario, but rather confirms the hypothesis supported until now." Since the beginning of the story in fact, the two riflemen of the San Marco Battalion were the only ones charged with the death of two Indian fishermen. The Italian defense has always called the incident a "tragic accident", supporting the argument that the marines mistook the Indian vessel for Somali pirates.
However, Panikulangara adds, "we still have to wait for the judgment on jurisdiction. Details about this other aspect of the story have yet to be established." (GM)