 "Why Qatar awarded death penalty to 8 ex-Indian Navy officers; details here")
Eight former Indian Navy personnel working in Qatar, who were arrested in August last year, in an alleged espionage case, have been sentenced to death by a Qatar court on Thursday.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) called the verdict "shocking" but said it would not comment given the "confidential nature of proceedings". However, the MEA assured that it would contest the judgment.
Let's look at who these Indian Navy officers are and why they have been sentenced to death.
Who are the eight Indian Navy veterans?
The eight former Indian Navy personnel have been identified as Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Amit Nagpal, Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, and sailor Ragesh Gopakumar.
All eight officers had a distinguished service track record of up to 20 years in the Indian Navy. They had held important positions, and some of them were instructors in the Navy.
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What were they doing in Qatar?
They were employed by Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services, a company that provides defence services. It is owned by an Omani national, Khamis al-Ajmi, a retired squadron leader of the Royal Omani Air Force. He was also arrested along with the Navy officers, but was released in November last year.
The company provided training and related services to Qatar's armed forces. Most of the arrested men had been working for Dahra for four to six years at the time of their arrest.
Who arrested them? And when?
They were arrested by Qatar's intelligence agency State Security Bureau in Doha in August 2022 and were kept in solitary confinement. Their trial began on March 29, 2023.
When did the Indian embassy meet the accused?
The Indian embassy in Qatar learnt about their arrest only in mid-September last year, and the arrested men were allowed to speak to their families on September 30, 2022. The embassy personnel were allowed to meet them in October last year.
What are the charges against them?
The Qatar and the Indian governments have not made the charges public. They were mentioned during the court hearing. According to media reports, the men were charged with spying for Israel and leaking information about Qatar's secret submarine deal with Italy. The submarines were considered to be advanced stealth technology.
Their families also were allegedly not informed of the formal charges against them. Their bail petitions had been rejected several times and the verdict against them was pronounced by the Court of First Instance in Qatar on Thursday.
What has the Indian government said?
After the Qatar court sentenced the former Indian Navy officers to death, the MEA said, "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."
"We attach high importance to this case, and have been following it closely. We will continue to extend all consular and legal assistance. We will also take up the verdict with Qatari authorities," the MEA said. The MEA further said that it was exploring legal channels to ensure the release of the eight arrested Indians.
Speaking about the charges in mid-October, the MEA spokesperson had admitted that "the charges were presented as part of the hearings" but that they wouldn't like to get into the legal part of it.
"They have legal representation in court. We are now looking forward to what the court judgement is and we hope that they are able to return to India," MEA spokesperson had said at that time.