The Indian Ambassador met 8 Navy veterans who are on death row in Qatar on December 3 and the Indian government is closely following the matter and extending all legal and consular assistance to them, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Thursday.
Arindam Bagchi also said that two hearings have been held in the case against the eight Indians and an appeal has already been filed against the death sentence.
The Navy veterans were on October 26 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.
#WATCH | MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi says, "You would have seen Prime Minister Modi meet Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad, the Amir of Qatar in Dubai on the sidelines of CoP28. They've had a good conversation on the overall bilateral relationship as well as in the well-being of the… pic.twitter.com/PfcBKtKvnm— ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2023
“There have been 2 hearings. We filed an appeal, from the families, and the detainees had a final appeal. 2 hearings have since been held. We are closely following the matter and extending all legal and consular assistance. Meanwhile, our ambassador got consular access to meet all 8 of them in prison on 3rd December,” Bagchi said during a press briefing.
“This is a sensitive issue, but we will continue to follow and whatever we can share, we will do so,” he added.
The MEA spokesperson also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the Amir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad in Dubai on the sidelines of COP28 and had a good conversation on the bilateral relationship.
The Ministry of External Affairs has said it is attaching “high importance” to the case and 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. In May, Al-Dhara Global closed its operations in Doha and all those working there (primarily Indians) have since returned home.
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