Qatar Accepts India’s Appeal Against Death Penalty To 8 Navy Veterans: Report

The Qatari judicial system had reportedly accepted India’s appeal against the death sentence to the eight former Indian Navy personnel on Thursday. The former naval officers were working for Al Dahra company on a submarine project for the Qatari authorities. They were detained for more than a year and were sentenced to death last month in an alleged case of espionage or spying.

All of the arrested former Navy officers have a distinguished service record of up to 20 years in the Indian Navy and have held important positions including that of instructors in the force, reported NDTV. Granted consular access to them, Indian authorities have been working to secure their release.

The eight former Indian officers were working at the Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services, and arrested in August 2022 by Qatar”s intelligence agency for undercover work. They were later imprisoned in Doha, but Qatar was not yet ready to disclose the charges filed against them. The personnel have submitted bail petitions multiple times but went rejected.

The accused were sentenced to death by Qatar”s Court of First Instance for alleged espionage on October 26. Subsequently, an appeal was filed by the Indian legal team in Qatar court and challenged the death penalty awarded to the eight ex-naval officers, said the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (IMEA) earlier this month. According to the Indian spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, the country’s embassy in Doha  received another consular access to the detained Indians and that New Delhi will continue to extend all legal and consular support to them.

The New Delhi earlier responded to the Qatari decision as “deeply shocking” and affirmed to consult all the possible legal options. “We (India) are deeply shocked by the verdict of the death penalty and are in touch with the family members. Our legal team is exploring all options”, said the Indian foreign ministry shortly after Qatar produced the ‘death’ judgement.

The eight arrested Indian naval veterans are Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Amit Nagpal, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, and sailor Ragesh.