India’s appeal against the death penalty for eight former Indian Navy officers who were sentenced to death last month in an alleged espionage case has been approved by a court in Qatar. According to sources, the Qatari court will review the appeal before scheduling a hearing.
The eight guys were reportedly detained for espionage in August 2022 by Qatar’s intelligence service. However, the accusations against them have not yet been made public by the Qatari authorities. The Court of First Instance in Qatar rendered a ruling against them last month after their bail pleas were denied multiple times.
Since being given consular access, Indian officials have been attempting to arrange for their release.
Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Amit Nagpal, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, and Sailor Ragesh Gopakumar are among the veterans of the Indian Navy who have been detained.
With a stellar service record spanning up to 20 years in the Indian Navy, all of the former Navy officers have held significant roles, including instructor in the force.
The sister of one of the former officials in custody, Meetu Bhargava, had approached the government for assistance in getting her brother released. She had asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to step in in a post on X on June 8.
“These Ex-Navy officers are the pride of the nation & again I request our Hon’ble Prime Minister with folded hands that it is high time that they all are brought back to India immediately without any further delay,” read her post, tagged to PM Modi and Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh.
