'Deeply shocked, exploring all legal options,' says MEA after 8 Indians given death sentence in Qatar

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said that it was deeply shocked by the verdict of the death penalty given to eight Indians detained in Qatar and that it was waiting for the detailed judgement. "We are in touch with the family members and the legal team, and we are exploring all legal options," the MEA said. "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."

Earlier today, a court in Qatar sentenced as many as eight former Indian Navy personnel to death who were detained in the country for over a year. 

In August 2022, Qatar detained eight former Indian Navy officers on suspicion of working as spies for Israel while they were employed by a company in Qatar. They were arrested by the Qatar intelligence agency from Doha on August 30, 2022.

Among the officers awarded the death penalty 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. The bail pleas of the Navy veterans were rejected several times by Qatari authorities.

The Navy veterans faced allegations of espionage-related to a submarine program on Israel's behalf. Qatari authorities have additionally claimed that they hold electronic evidence pertaining to the matter.

Earlier this year, ThePrint reported that the Navy personnel have been accused of spying on Qatar's secretive programme to obtain Italian-made, high-tech submarines coated with metamaterials that make their detection by adversaries difficult. 

The report said that Fincantieri SpA, a Trieste-based shipbuilding firm, had signed a memorandum of understanding with Qatar for the production of submarines in 2020. Qatar had also placed orders for four corvettes and a helicopter carrier. 

An Indian intelligence officer told ThePrint that they tried hard to convince their counterparts in Doha that India and its nationals were not involved in hostile intelligence operations against the emirate. But, the officer said, the Qataris were insisting that intelligence on their submarine programme was passed on to Israel.

Qatar's state intelligence agency claimed to have intercepted electronic communications establishing that the naval officers were spying on the submarine programme, the officer further said as per ThePrint.

(With inputs from Geeta Mohan)