Eight Indian Navy personnel sentenced to death in Qatar: All we know so far

Qatar, on Thursday, announced a death penalty for eight former Indian Navy personnel who were held on suspicion of espionage. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) expressed deep shock at the sentence passed by the Court of First Instance in Qatar. This comes after the ministry had stated last year that it is constantly in touch with the Qatar government regarding the imprisonment of the personnel.

The MEA said in an official press release, “We have initial information that the Court of First Instance of Qatar has today passed a judgement in the case involving 8 Indian employees of Al Dahra company. We are deeply shocked by the verdict of the 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.” The ministry said that it will provide all consular and legal assistance.

The charges were, however, not made public by the Qatari authorities.

Eight former Indian Navy personnel – 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 – were detained since August 8, 2022 by the Qatari intelligence agency on suspicion of espionage related to a submarine programme. They were arrested by the intelligence agency from Doha on August 30, 2022.

New Delhi has been given consular access to the Indian nationals and efforts are on to secure their release. The first trial took place in March this year.

Qatari authorities had stated that they hold electronic evidence in the matter. The Navy personnel have been accused of spying on Qatar’s secretive programme to obtain Italy-made high-tech submarines that are coated with metamaterials to make detection difficult.

According to a report in The Print that quoted an Indian intelligence officer, the Indian side tried to convince their counterparts in Doha that the Indian nationals were not involved in the hostile intelligence operations but were told that the intelligence was passed on to Israel.

S Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs, had said in December last year that the Indian government is constantly in touch with the Qatari government. He assured that the officers are a priority.

"This is a very sensitive case. Their interests are foremost in our minds. Ambassadors and senior officials are in constant touch with Qatar’s govt. We assure, they’re our priority," he had said.

MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi  had said that the Indian embassy was actively pursuing the case. Some of the personnel were able to talk to their families, while some had families staying in Doha, he said.

(With inputs from Geeta Mohan)

Also read: 'Deeply shocked, exploring all legal options,' says MEA after 8 Indians given death sentence in Qatar

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