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Special items
- India is in talks with the Qatari authorities in this matter
- Qatar court sentenced eight Indians to death on October 26
- The ex-naval officers had a 20-year ‘deplorable tenure’ in the navy.
New Delhi:
A court in Qatar has accepted India’s appeal against the death sentence awarded to eight former Indian Navy personnel convicted last month in an alleged espionage case. Sources said the Qatari court will decide the hearing date after examining the appeal. The former Indian Navy officers arrested in August 2022 are Purnendu Tiwari, Sugunakar Pakla, Amit Nagpal, Sanjeev Gupta, Navtej Singh Gill, Birendra Kumar Verma, Saurabh Vashishth and Ragesh Gopkumar.
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According to reports, eight Indians were arrested by Qatar’s intelligence agency on charges of espionage. But Qatar has not yet announced the charges against him. His bail application has been rejected several times and a Qatari court ruled against him last month.
Earlier on Thursday, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said the appeal process against the death sentences awarded to eight former Indian Navy personnel by a Qatari court is underway. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that India is in dialogue with Qatari authorities on the matter and the government will continue to provide all legal and consular assistance to Indian nationals.
Eight Indians were sentenced to death on 26 October.
Qatar’s ‘Court of First Instance’ sentenced eight Indians to death on October 26. India termed the decision shocking and said it would explore all legal options in the matter. An appeal against the death sentence was filed a few days later. Bagchi said, “The matter is currently under the legal process there. As we said, an appeal has been filed in the Qatar Court of Appeal. We are also in touch with the Qatari authorities on the matter and we are advising them (ex-navy personnel) “All legal and will continue to provide diplomatic assistance.”
The charges against the Indians were not made public
Indian nationals working in private company Al Dahra were arrested in August last year in an alleged espionage case. Neither Qatari authorities nor New Delhi have disclosed the charges against the Indian nationals. In its reaction to the Qatar court’s decision, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said last month that it was attaching ‘high importance’ to the case and was exploring all legal options. Charges were filed against eight former Indian Navy officers on March 25 and they were tried under Qatari law.
Former army officers said all the ex-naval officers had an ‘unblemished tenure’ of 20 years in the Indian Navy and had served in important positions in the force, including as instructors. In May, Al-Dahra Global closed its operations in Doha and all the people working there (mainly Indians) returned home. In the past, the Navy had taken up the case of ex-sailors with higher government officials to ensure their release.