Eight former Indian naval officers who had been put on death row due to unidentified allegations have been freed by a Qatari court. The foreign ministry in Delhi announced on Monday that seven of the guys had already left and returned to India.
Authorities declared in January that their death penalty had been substituted with “varying” terms of imprisonment. The charges against the men, who worked for the private company Dahra Global in Qatar, were not made public by either India or Qatar.
However, according to Reuters and the Financial Times, the individuals were accused of working as Israeli spies. The foreign ministry in Delhi released a statement saying, “We appreciate the decision by the Amir of the State of Qatar to enable the release and home-coming of these nationals.”
In 2022, the men’s arrest had garnered front-page news in India. India declared itself “deeply shocked” in October of last year following the men’s death sentences from the Court of First Instance in Qatar.
Following that, the Indian Foreign Ministry appealed the verdict.
Qatar and India are intimate allies. Delhi recently agreed to pay Doha $78 billion (£62 billion) for the import of liquefied natural gas by the end of 2048.
Although the men’s conviction initially strained relations between the two nations, experts say persistent diplomatic efforts have led to the men’s release. The men in jail were met by India’s envoy to Qatar, the country’s foreign ministry reported in December.
The government announced later that month that their death sentences had been commuted by the Court of Appeal in Qatar.
A ministry spokesman acknowledged in January that the death penalty had been replaced with various prison terms, but they would not specify how long the punishments would be.
Source:
theeastcountygazette.com, Staff, February 12, 2024
_____________________________________________________________________
SUPPORT DEATH PENALTY NEWS
