Italian deputy foreign minister Steffan De Mistura, who came down to Kollam, cancelled the plan to visit the family of Jelestine who died in the firing of Italian Marines on February 15.
“It is misappropriate to visit the family as the entire fisher folks are under grief with the second mishap in the sea. I take the strong sensitive emotion of the entire fishermen into account,” said Mr Steffan de Mistura while briefing to the media at Kollam.
The Italian minister said that he visited Kollam for two reasons, to visit the family of Jelestine to convey that the Italian people are sad about the incident and express the solidarity to the entire fishermen community.
The second one was to meet the military personnel who were on board Enrica Lexi to ensure that the Italian people will never leave them alone and the whole Italian support for them.
“We also thank the local police for the treatment provided to the military personnel. They are treated with all respect that a military person should get and it would be the same if a foreigner is detained in Italy. I found them so calm and they are waiting for the outcome of the judgment,” said the minister.
“The Indian judiciary is an independent and autonomous body, and we have all respect for the Indian judiciary. We are looking forward for the outcome of the judgment. The court is hearing arguments of both the sides which give us hope on the outcome. We are happy to have presence of our ballistic experts in forensic lab examinations which helps to have transparency in investigation,” said the minister as an answer to a question about the Indian judiciary and the on going investigation.
Derick Valentine, the elder son of Jelestine, said to this newspaper that it was the family decision not to visit the Italian minister, as it could affect the ongoing investigation and the case.