Report: Qatar accepts appeal against death penalty filed by former Indian navy personnel

According to a media source, a court in Qatar has accepted the Narendra Modi government’s appeal against the execution of eight former Indian naval members who were detained on suspicion of spying and has agreed to hear their petition shortly without providing a timeframe.

This news comes one month after the Court of First Instance in Qatar sentenced the eight former members of the Indian Navy to death.

According to “sources close to the men’s families,” The Quint, a news publication, reported that the appeal was granted.

The eight Indian Navy veterans were charged on March 25 and put on trial under Qatari law. However, things took a turn for the worst on October 26 when the local court handed out death sentences.

The ministry of external affairs declared that it will investigate all legal possibilities in the issue, calling the verdict “deeply” disturbing.

The MEA had stated in a statement, “We have initial information that the Court of First Instance of Qatar has today passed a judgment in the case involving eight Indian employees of Al Dahra company. We are deeply shocked by the verdict of death penalty and are awaiting the detailed judgment. We are in touch with the family members and the legal team, and we are exploring all legal options.”

These former Indian Navy members who work for Dahra Global were identified as the arrested Indians: 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.

In addition to urging the government to secure the eight men’s release as soon as possible, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh stated that his party anticipates that the government will use all of its diplomatic and political clout with the Qatari government to guarantee that the officers have full access to appeals processes and that every effort will be made to secure their release.

The Indian nationals were arrested in August 2022; they were all workers at Dahra Global, a company located in Doha.

After being detained in Qatar for a year, the ex-navy members were given some relief by the government when they were placed in a double-bed occupancy in a jail ward alongside other inmates, rather than in solitary confinement.

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