The ministry of external affairs said on Thursday that an appeal has been filed against the death sentence handed down to eight former Indian Navy personnel in Qatar last month. India has been engaged with Qatari officials and another round of consular access was given on November 7.
“In the case of eight navy personnel imprisoned in Qatar, India got consular access again on November 7. We are also in touch with their family members. An appeal has been filed in the matter; we are in touch with Qatar,” said ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.
Bagchi said legal teams have got access to the charges against the Indian nationals and, while the judgement is confidential, a legal appeal has been filed. He added that New Delhi will continue to extend all legal and consular support to them.
On October 26, the eight ex-navy personnel were given death sentence by Qatar’s Court of First Instance. India described the ruling as “deeply” shocking and vowed to explore all legal options in the case.
The Indian nationals, who worked with private company Al Dahra, were arrested in August last year reportedly in an alleged case of espionage. Neither the Qatari authorities nor New Delhi made the charges against them public.
In its reaction to the ruling by the Qatari court, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) last month said it is attaching “high importance” to this case and is exploring all legal options. The charges were filed against the eight Indian navy veterans on March 25 and they were tried under Qatari law.
All of the former Navy officers had “unblemished stints” of up to 20 years in the Indian Navy and had held important positions including that of instructors in the force, former military officials had said.
(With PTI inputs)
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