A Qatari court has finally accepted the appeal lodged by the Indian government in connection with the death penalty given to eight ex-Indian Navy personnel by a court in October.According to the sources, the court said that they are studying the appeal and the next hearing is expected soon.In October, a Qatari court handed death sentences to eight former Indian navy personnel who had been detained in the country for over a year.The MEA on Thursday said, “The judgment is confidential. There is a court of first instance that gave the judgment, which was shared with our legal team. Considering all legal options, an appeal has been filed. We are in touch with the Qatari authorities.”EAM spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that India is engaged with the Qatari authorities on the matter and that the government will continue to extend all legal and consular assistance to the ex-Navy personnel.Notably, this year in August, Qatar detained eight former Indian Navy officers on suspicion of working as spies for Israel while they were employed by a company based in the Middle Eastern nation. The former 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 arrested by Qatar intelligence agency from Doha on August 30, 2022.Since then, the bail pleas of the Navy veterans were rejected several times by the Qatari officials. The death penalty was announced by the Court of First Instance of Qatar in October this year.
