Indian government expressed its shock over the verdict of a Qatar court, announcing the death penalty to eight former Indian Navy personnel in an alleged case of espionage.
The eight former Indian Navy personnel, who had been employed by a company in Doha, were handed the death penalty by a local court in Doha on October 26. The Indian government said all legal options were being explored.
India's ambassador to Qatar met the men in prison on October 1 after being granted consular access.
"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 Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on Thursday.
According to experts in international diplomacy, the Indian government now has two major options to explore, one is to extend legal assistance to the Indian nationals to move to an apex court of Qatar as the verdict was announced by a lower court of the country. The second one is to initiate proceedings before The International Court of Justice to save the lives of Indian nationals.
The former Indian Navy officers — Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Amit Nagpal, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta and Sailor Ragesh — were reportedly arrested by Qatar intelligence agency from Doha on August 30, 2022.
