Devanjana Mukherjee, Khabri Media
An appeal was filed against the death sentence last month of which the Qatari court will review the appeal before scheduling a hearing.
Pic: Social Media
A Qatar court has approved India’s appeal against the death penalty for eight former Indian Navy officers who were sentenced to death last month in an alleged espionage case. The court will review the appeal before scheduling a hearing. To subscribe please click tau.id/2iy6f and access our live channel.
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The eight men were arrested in August 2022 by Qatar’s intelligence agency for spying. Indian government sources had previously said the Qatari authorities have not provided the reasons for their arrest. The Qatar court had announced the death penalty for these Indians on October 26.
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 Ragesh Gopakumar.
Few details of the case, including the alleged crime committed by these men, have been disclosed so far. Their bail petitions were rejected several times and the verdict against them was pronounced last month by the Court of First Instance in Qatar.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, “We 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.” The statement came after the Qatari’s court judgement.
All of the 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. In 2022, the authorities in Qatar detained eight retired Indian Navy soldiers working for a defense services provider company.
