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New Delhi: On Thursday, The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that the government has filed an appeal against the death penalty awarded to eight Indians by a Qatari court last month. The spokesperson said that the Indian embassy in Doha received another consular access to the detainees on November 7.
He added, “We will remain engaged with the authorities in the matter.” During a press conference MEA Bagchi said,“Qatar has a court of first instance that gave the judgement.” he added, “The judgement is confidential and has been shared with the legal team. We are also in touch with Qatar authorities.” In October, a court in Qatar sentenced as many as eight former Indian Navy personnel to death who were detained in the country for over a year.
The MEA said,“We got another round of consular access with the eight Indians on November 7. We are in touch with the family members.” “We will continue to extend all legal and consular support and we urge everyone not to engage in speculation considering the sensitive nature of the case,” the ministry added.
In August 2022, Qatar detained eight former Indian Navy officers on suspicion of working as spies for Israel while they were employed by a company in Qatar. The former officers have been identified as Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Amit Nagpal, Commander Purenendu Tiwari, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta and Sailor Ragesh.
They worked for a private company Al Dahra, which reportedly provides training to the Qatari Navy. On October 30, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that he met the families of the veterans and told them that the Indian government attaches the highest importance to the case. The bail pleas of the Navy veterans were rejected several times by Qatari authorities. The death penalty was announced by the Court of First Instance of Qatar in October.
