In a significant diplomatic victory for India, Qatar has launched eight former Indian Navy personnel who had been detained within the Gulf nation in an alleged case of espionage.
The Ministry of Exterior Affairs (MEA), in an announcement launched early on Monday, welcomed the event and mentioned seven of the eight former Indian Navy personnel working for the Al Dahra World Firm, a personal agency, returned to India from Qatar.
“The Government of India welcomes the release of eight Indian nationals working for the Dahra Global Company who were detained in Qatar. Seven out of the eight of them have returned to India. We appreciate the decision by the Emir of the State of Qatar to enable the release and home-coming of these nationals,” the MEA mentioned in an announcement.
In December final 12 months, a Qatari courtroom reversed the loss of life penalty of the eight Indian Navy veterans who had been arrested within the Al Dahra World case. The loss of life sentence was decreased to jail phrases.
The event got here after Qatar’s Courtroom of First Occasion accepted an enchantment filed by the Indian authorities towards the loss of life sentence awarded to the Navy veterans.
The eight Indian Navy officers who had been detained in Qatar are — 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.
WHAT IS THE CASE?
The Indian nationals, who labored with Al Dahra, had been arrested in August 2022 in an alleged case of espionage. Neither the Qatari authorities nor New Delhi made the fees towards the Indian nationals public, given the sensitivity of the matter.
The Navy veterans had been awarded loss of life sentences by Qatar’s Courtroom of First Occasion on October 26, 2023. India described the ruling as “deeply” stunning and vowed to discover all authorized choices within the case.
In its response to the ruling by the Qatari courtroom, the MEA had mentioned it was attaching “high importance” to the case and exploring all authorized choices.
The fees had been filed towards the Indian nationals on March 25, 2023, and so they had been tried underneath Qatari regulation.
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