Death sentence of 8 ex-Indian Navy sailors in Qatar reduced to jail term: MEA

A Qatar court has commuted the death sentences awarded to eight former Indian Navy sailors to jail terms, the Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday (December 28).

Making the announcement, MEA said a detail judgement on the reduced sentences is awaited and New Delhi will continue to engage with Qatari authorities on the same.

"We have noted the verdict today of the Court of Appeal of Qatar in the Dahra Global case, in which the sentences have been reduced," PTI quoted the ministry as saying in a statement.

“Our Ambassador to Qatar and other officials were present in the Court of Appeal today, along with the family members. We have stood by them since the beginning of the matter and we will continue to extend all consular and legal assistance. We will also continue to take up the matter with the Qatari authorities,” the statement read.

Convicted on charges of espionage 

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.

An appeal was filed against the death sentence by the family members of the Indians.

The Indian nationals, who worked with private company Al Dahra, were arrested in August last year reportedly in an alleged case of espionage. Neither the Qatari authorities nor New Delhi made the charges against the Indian nationals public.

In its reaction to the ruling by the Qatari court, the MEA last month said that it is attaching "high importance" to this case and is 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.

(With inputs from agencies)