MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. Supply: X
India has the order by a Qatar courtroom that commuted the demise sentence of eight former Indian Navy personnel, the Ministry of Exterior Affairs mentioned Thursday, including that it’s confidential and the authorized staff is engaged on it.
Throughout a media briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal confirmed the ex-India Navy personnel are not on demise row. “All have got varying sentences,” he added.
Jaiswal additional mentioned there may be 60 days time to attraction the case earlier than the Courtroom of Cassation, highest courtroom.
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“The legal team has the order of the court, which is confidential. 60 days are there to appeal to the highest court of Qatar…We are in touch with the family members and the legal team,” Jaiswal mentioned.
#WATCH | On Qatar courtroom’s verdict commuting demise sentence of 8 Indian ex-Navy personnel, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal says, “…The authorized staff has the order of the courtroom, which is confidential. 60 days are there to attraction to the best courtroom of Qatar…We’re in contact with… pic.twitter.com/MdqgNEWIOy
— ANI (@ANI) January 4, 2024
On 28 December, 2023, the Courtroom of Enchantment in Qatar commuted the demise sentence handed right down to the Indians and sentenced them to jail for various durations.
It’s learnt that the jail phrases handed to the previous Indian Navy personnel vary from three years to 25 years.
The decision got here weeks after the members of the family of the Indians filed an attraction in opposition to the sooner order by one other courtroom.
The Navy veterans had been on 26 October, 2023, given demise sentences by Qatar’s Courtroom of First Occasion.
India had filed an attraction earlier than an appellate courtroom in Qatar which was accepted in November final yr.
In response to experiences, these ex-naval officers embody some highly-decorated personnel who as soon as commanded Indian warships. A number of of those officers retired with the rank of commander from the Indian Navy.
The eight veterans have been recognized as Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Commander Purenendu Tiwari, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Amit Nagpal and Sailor Ragesh Gopakumar.
These former Navy officers had been employed by a Qatar firm named Dahra International Applied sciences and Consultancy Providers to offer coaching and providers comparable to logistics and gear upkeep to the Qatari Emiri Navy.
That they had been working with the corporate for the final 4 to 6 years.
The eight former Navy officers had been picked up by Qatar’s intelligence company – State Safety Bureau on 30 August 2022, The Indian embassy in Doha apparently learnt concerning the arrest solely in mid-September.
The officers in custody had been allowed to speak to their households on the cellphone on the finish of September, whereas in early October, they had been visited by an official of the Indian embassy. The subsequent consular entry was offered within the first week of November.
The primary listening to of their trial started in March 2023. Their bail pleas had been turned down a number of occasions and their detention was prolonged by Qatari authorities.
All eight ex-officers had been beforehand in solitary confinement. Nonetheless, in August this yr, they had been shifted to cells shared by two officers every in Doha.
After the demise sentence verdict in October final yr, India had mentioned it was “deeply shocked” and would discover all authorized choices.
With inputs from companies