Qatar Frees Navy Veterans: From Death Row To Final Release — Know All About The Espionage Case

The former Navy officials were working with a private firm there named Al Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services, headquartered in Doha.

Qatar released eight Indian Navy veterans who had earlier been put on death row on charges of espionage for Israel.

Source : X/@ANI

The Court of Appeal of Qatar has released the eight Indian Navy veterans from its custody, out of which, seven have returned to India, Ministry of External Affairs stated in an issued statement. The MEA applauded the Qatar court's decision to free the eight former members of the Indian Navy who were given death sentences earlier. 

“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 Amir of the State of Qatar to enable the release and home-coming of these nationals,"reads the official statement. 

Earlier, following diplomatic negotiations between Qatar and India, the death penalty for the imprisoned Indian Navy veterans was reduced to an extended prison sentence.

What Is The Dahra Global Case?

Indian Navy Veteran, all working at Doha-based Dahra Global, were arrested in August 2022 on charges of spying for Israel and giving it classified material about Qatar's military submarine program. The Dahra Global used to provide training, and various other services to Qatar's armed forces. The company was later closed in May last year. 

The owner of Dahra Global Technologies, which hired the eight Indians, was reportedly a Qatari national who was also detained before being freed on bond. Media reports said that Qatar had intercepted electronic communications revealing the detained individuals had spied for Israel on the secret project of the Qatari military to build Italian miniature submarines that could avoid radar detection.

Who Are Indian Navy Personnel?

The eight navy veterans included 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. After their arrest, they were put into solitary confinement. After a year from their arrest, they were permitted to move from solitary confinement to a jail ward with their colleagues, two men to each cell, Indian Express reported.

The former Navy officials were working with a private firm there named Al Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services, headquartered in Doha.

According to former military officials cited by news agency PTI, all of the former Navy personnel had "unblemished stints" of up to 20 years in the Indian Navy and had held significant roles, including that of instructors. Among these veterans, Captain Gill received the President's Gold Medal for distinction upon graduating from the Naval Academy and going on to work as an instructor at Wellington, Tamil Nadu's Defence Services Staff College.

India's Diplomatic Intervention That Led To Release Of Navy Veterans 

The court has given each of the eight men the death punishment on October 26, 2023. On December 28, 2023, the Qatar Court of Appeals commuted the death sentence in response to Delhi's diplomatic intervention. At the time, S Jaishankar, the minister of external affairs, met with the veteran's families and gave them the assurance that every effort would be made by the government to obtain their release.

The ruling by the Qatar's court is regarded as a significant diplomatic victory for India as well, as it was rendered just weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar, during the COP28 Summit in Dubai. PM Modi stated that they had talked about the welfare of the Indian community in Qatar during their meeting on December 1.

The eight former Indian Navy members were granted sixty days in January by the Court of Appeal to file an appeal against the jail sentences that were imposed on them after their death sentences were commuted, according to the External Affairs Ministry.

The court's decision was first given orally, and spokeswoman for the foreign affairs ministry Randhir Jaiswal stated during a routine press conference that while the eight men's legal team had gotten a copy of the ruling, it was a "confidential document."