Nithyakalyani Narayanan. V
The appellate court in Qatar mitigated the death sentence on December 28th, marking a significant first step towards providing solace to the families of the eight ex-Indian Navy sailors who were on the execution row there. While the full ruling from the Qatari court is awaited, the Government of India has said that the sentences have been “reduced.”
After the former Indian Navy officers were detained and arrested in Qatar for about a year and a half, New Delhi has finally won a court battle when the death sentence was commuted. According to the Ministry of External Affairs- “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. We are in close touch with the legal team as well as the family members to decide on the next steps.”
Families of the individuals who were arrested were present at the Court of Appeal on Thursday, along with Vipul, the Indian ambassador to Qatar, and other authorities. The MEA held- “We have stood by them since the beginning of the matter and we will continue to extend all consular and legal assistance. We will also continue to take up the matter with the Qatari authorities.”
This occurred a few weeks after the Indian government filed an appeal against the death penalty that an October 26 Qatari court had imposed on the eight men on an alleged allegation of espionage. The appeal was received in the final week of November and was submitted before a Qatari appellate court. The appellate court has held at least three hearings.
August 2022 saw the arrest of the Indian nationals, who were all workers for Dahra Global, a company situated in Doha. The accusations against them were never disclosed by the authorities in Qatar. They were accused of espionage for Israel.
The Indian Ambassador in Doha met the eight men in prison on December 3, the first time they had been seen since they were given death sentences in October. The Indian officials had access through consular channels prior to then.
After meeting with Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai on December 1, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was given consular access to the Indian envoy and the subsequent commutation of his sentence, or reduction of the punishment, as the MEA termed it. The two leaders talked about their bilateral relationship as well as the “well-being of the Indian community” in Qatar, which was interpreted to mean talking about the eight men who are now serving death sentences. The eight men had been working in their private capacity with Dahra Global to oversee the induction of Italian small stealth submarines U2I2. They were identified as 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.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with the families of the eight men a few days after the death penalty conviction, which India described as “deeply shocking” and gave them the assurance that the case was given “the highest importance” by the government. Apart from the actions of the government, the relatives of the eight individuals also made a request for mercy to the Emir of Qatar.