Qatar drops death sentence to 8 former Indian Navy officers

New Delhi – A Qatar Court had pronounced death sentence to 8 former Indian Navy officers for alleged spying. The court has commuted that sentence to imprisonment. The period of imprisonment has still not been clarified. The Qatar Appeal Court has given this decision. The Indian Ambassador to Qatar was present in the Court during the hearing, as also the families of the concerned ex-navy officers. India has established a committee to providenlegal aid to these officers.

“We have noted the verdict today of the Court of Appeal of Qatar in the Dahra Global case, in which the sentences have been reduced…The detailed judgement is awaited….Our Ambassador to Qatar and other officials were present in the Court of Appeal today, along with the family… pic.twitter.com/ysjVhbisaK

— ANI (@ANI) December 28, 2023

 The Indian Foreign Ministry has published a statement in this matter. It gives information about the hearings of this case. It says that “Qatar’s Appeal Court has commuted the death sentence pronounced in the ‘Dahar Global’ case to 8 ex navy officers. The details of the decision are awaited. We have stood by them since the beginning, and we will continue tomextend all consular and legal assistance. We will also continue to take up the matter with Qatari authorities.

The Qatar Intelligence agency arrested the former navy officers on 30 ^th August 2022 and informed the Indian Embassy about the same after 15 ^th September. The arrested officers are identified as Captains – Navtej Gill, Saurabh Vasisht, BK Verma; Commanders – Purnendu Tiwari, Amit Nagpal, SK Gupta and Sugunakar Pakala and Sailor Ragesh.