Qatar court accepts India's appeal against death penalty to ex-Navy officers: Report

The appeal, filed by the Indian legal team in Qatar court to challenge the death penalty awarded to eight naval veterans imprisoned in Doha, has been accepted on Thursday. The Court of First Instance in Qatar had passed the original judgment of death penalty to the eight men, who used to work at Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services on October 26. 

A Qatar court has accepted the appeal filed by the Indian government against the death sentence awarded to eight former Indian Navy personnel last month, according to media reports. The court said the next hearing is expected soon. 

The Court of First Instance in Qatar had passed the original judgment of death penalty to the eight men, who used to work at Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services on October 26. They were arrested on August 30, 2022.   

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said earlier this month that an appeal had been filed against the death sentence that a Qatar court had imposed on eight former officers of the Indian Navy.  MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the Indian embassy in Doha received another consular access to the detained Indians and that New Delhi will continue to extend all legal and consular support to them.

India had earlier described the ruling as “deeply” shocking and vowed to explore all legal options in the case. “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,” Ministry of External Affairs had said after the judgment.

Last August, the Indian nationals, who worked with the private company Al Dahra, were arrested reportedly in an alleged case of espionage. Neither the Qatari authorities nor New Delhi made the charges against the Indian nationals public.

The eight arrested Indian naval veterans were working at Al Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services, a defence services provider company. The company was run by Khamis al-Ajmi, a retired squadron leader of the Royal Oman Air Force. 

The eight arrested Indian naval veterans are 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.