Eight Former Indian Navy Personnel Sentenced To Death In Qatar, Here Is What We Know So Far

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said that it is deeply shocked and is exploring all legal options after Qatar on Thursday handed down death penalties to eight Indian nationals.

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Who are the Indian nationals?

The Indian nationals, all former Indian Navy personnel, identified as Captain Saurabh Vashisht, Commander Purenendu Tiwari, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Commander Amit Nagpal, and Sailor Ragesh were sentenced to death on Thursday.

Why were they sentenced to death?

The case is even more complicated because it is still unclear on what grounds they were sentenced to death. Neither the Qatari authorities nor New Delhi made the charges against the Indian nationals public.

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According to reports, Indian nationals who worked with the private company Al-Dahra were arrested in August last year in an alleged espionage case.

Raised concern about the detention of 8 former Navy officers in Doha, Qatar in the Lok Sabha. Appealed to External Affairs ministry to engage in dialogue with Qatar and find out why our Ex-servicemen have been kept in Solitary Confinement for 120 days & ensure their safe return. pic.twitter.com/0dfa3Vn4he

¡ª Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) December 7, 2022

How MEA has reacted

Reacting to the development, the MEA said it would "not be appropriate to make any further comments at this juncture" due to the "confidential nature of the proceedings".

According to an MEA statement, the verdict is shocking, and they are exploring all legal options.

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"We have initial information that the Court of First Instance of Qatar has today passed a judgement in the case involving eight Indian employees of Al Dahra company. We are deeply shocked by the verdict of death penalty and are awaiting the detailed judgement. We are in touch with the family members and the legal team, and we are exploring all legal options," it said.

The MEA said it will continue to extend all consular and legal assistance to the Indians.

"We attach high importance to this case, and have been following it closely. We will continue to extend all consular and legal assistance. We will also take up the verdict with Qatari authorities," it said in a statement.

India's ambassador to Qatar met the men in prison on October 1 after being granted consular access.

What were they doing in Qatar?

According to reports, the eight men had "unblemished stints" of up to 20 years in the Indian Navy and had held important positions, including that of instructors in the force.

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They had taken voluntary retirements and were working with the Al Dahra security company, which had some arrangements with the Qatari authorities for facilitating training to naval personnel.

The men were working on a "commercial basis", and according to reports, they were overseeing the induction of Italian small stealth U2I2 submarines as part of their work at Al Dahra.

Who else was booked?

Along with the eight Indians, charges were also framed against two Qatari nationals, including Khamis al-Ajmi, the CEO of Al Dahra Global. The company's CEO, an Omani national, was also detained but was released later. In May, Al Dahra Global closed its operations in Doha.

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