Doha: In a significant diplomatic achievement for India, Qatar on Thursday, December 28, reportedly commuted the death sentence of ex-Indian Navy officials to a jail term.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced that Qatar’s Court of Appeal has agreed to lower the sentence of the Indian Navy veterans, however, there is no official confirmation on the term that is to be served and a detailed judgement is awaited.
“Our Ambassador to Qatar and other officials were present in the Court of Appeal today, along with the family members. We have stood by them since the beginning of the matter and we will continue to extend all consular and legal assistance. We will also continue to take up the matter with the Qatari authorities,” said the MEA on the verdict in the Dahra Global case in Qatar,” it said.
“Due to the confidential and sensitive nature of proceedings of this case, it would not be appropriate to make any further comment at this juncture,” the MEA added.
The development comes after Qatar’s Court of First Instance on November 23 accepted the appeal filed by the Indian government against the death sentence awarded to eight Navy officers.
In August 2022, the eight men were arrested by Qatar’s intelligence agency for spying. However, the accusations against them were not made public by the Qatari authorities.
This incident of arrest came to light when Meetu Bhargava, sister of Commander Purenendu Tiwari on October 25, 2022, tweeted and appealed to the government for help.
On October 26, the eight Indians were given death sentences by Qatar’s Court of First Instance after their bail petitions were denied multiple times.
The arrested Indian Navy veterans are Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Amit Nagpal, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Saurabh Vasisht and Sailor Rajesh Gopakumar.
They worked at Qatar’s Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services. It is a private company that offers training and various other services to the defence and security agencies of Qatar.
