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NEW DELHI: A Qatari court has held three hearings on the appeal filed by eight former Indian Navy personnel against the death sentence given to them and India remains focused on efforts to bring them back home, external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Thursday.
Read here: 2 hearings by Qatar court in ex-navy men case: MEA
While the emir of Qatar pardoned several prisoners, including Indian nationals, on the country’s national day on December 18, the Indian side has no information so far on the identities of those pardoned, Bagchi told a regular media briefing.
The eight men, including decorated officers who commanded frontline warships in the Indian Navy, were sentenced to death by Qatar’s Court of First Instance on October 26 after being detained for more than a year on undeclared charges. Reports have suggested the men were accused of espionage. The Indian side has said the court’s verdict was not made public.
“This case is now in [Qatar’s] Court of Appeal and there have been three hearings…on November 23, November 30 and December 7. Meanwhile, our ambassador in Doha got consular access…to meet all the eight men on December 3. But beyond this, I don’t have anything to share at this stage,” Bagchi said in response to questions.
Bagchi said the Indian side has no information about the people who were pardoned by Qatar’s ruler on December 18. “We certainly have not received any indication that these eight are involved in that, and as you know, the case is going on and I’d be a little surprised that this would happen while the case is going on,” he said.
India has not formally received the pardon list or information on how many Indians are on it. “I know there are some Indians on it,” he said.
Though the Indian prime minister and the emir of Qatar recently had a conversation, Bagchi declined to go into details of the discussion. “We have said this is an important issue that we are following, and [looking at] how we can get our people back to India at the earliest. That is what is driving us,” he said.
Very few details about the case have been provided by the Indian and Qatari sides since the men were detained in August 2022. Soon after the Qatari court gave its verdict, the external affairs ministry expressed “deep shock” and pledged to look at all legal options to help the former naval personnel.
Read here: ‘Our ambassador got consular access’: MEA on 8 veterans on death row in Qatar
The eight men were employees of a subsidiary of Oman-based Dahra Engineering & Security Services, which provided training and other services to Qatar’s armed forces. The subsidiary was shut down in May this year.