Before death penalty, how 8 Navy veterans languished in solitary confinement in Qatar

“We are deeply shocked by the verdict of death penalty and are awaiting the detailed judgment. We are in touch with the family members and the legal team, and we are exploring all legal options.”

This was the statement put out by the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday (26 October) after Qatar handed down a death sentence to the eight former Indian Navy personnel working there.

The MEA has vowed to explore all legal options in the case, which dates back to August last year when the eight former officers with unblemished records – Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Commander Amit Nagpal, and Sailor Ragesh – were arrested in the dead of night by the Qatar’s State Security Bureau, their spy agency.

The entire matter is shrouded in secrecy with even the charges that have been levelled against them to be revealed. However, some media reports say that they have been accused of spying for Israel on Qatar’s advanced submarines.

As India scrambles to get the veterans off the noose, we take a closer look at the ordeal they have endured until now.

Uncertainty and solitary confinement

Prior to the arrest, the eight veterans were working at Al Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services, a defence services provider company, after securing voluntary retirements from the Indian Navy.

According to the old website of Al Dahra, the company provided training, logistics and maintenance services to the Qatari Emiri Naval Force (QENF). However, the website is now revamped and the company name changed to ‘Dahra Global’ and it no longer boasts any connection with the QENF.

The owner of the company was an Omani national, Khamis al-Ajmi, a retired squadron leader of the Royal Oman Air Force. Al-Ajmi too was jailed along with the eight Indians, but he was released in November 2022.

On the night of 30 August 2022, the former naval personnel were arrested by Qatar’s State Security Bureau on undeclared charges. After their arrest, they were then placed in solitary confinement, led to speculation that they had been detained in connection with a security-related offence.

It was only after almost a month that the veterans were allowed to call their families and loved ones through a single phone call and on 3 October last year, the first consular access was granted.

They were granted a second consular access in the month of December during which it was revealed that they were being treated “with civility”. It was only after this that their families were allowed either weekly visits or phone conversations as well.

Speaking of their ordeal, Meetu Bhargava, the sister of Commander Purnendu Tiwari had told The Print, “My brother is a senior citizen and has multiple medical issues. At the age of 63, he has been put in solitary confinement. I can’t even imagine what mental trauma he must be going through.”

Navdeep Gill, the brother of arrested veteran Captain Navtej Singh Gill, also told The Print, “These officers don’t deserve to go through this.”

It’s important to note here that even when the trial against the eight began on 29 March this year, they continued to be kept in solitary confinement. It was only on 4 August – nearly a year since they were arrested – that they were moved out of isolation and lodged on a twin sharing basis in Doha.

A source speaking to New Indian Express had said that the move brought some respite to the veterans “as they have someone to talk to”.

It has also been reported that family members filed a mercy petition with Qatar’s Emir seeking their pardon.

Also read: Why 18 December may be a key day in ex-Indian Navy personnel case in Qatar

Government’s aid

And while the veterans have been languishing in prison, the government has extended all aid and help to get them out and reunite them with their loved ones. In fact, they filed at least eight bail pleas to the Qatari government, but all of them were rejected.

Also as part of their support to the veterans, the Indian government has been providing legal aid to them. Interestingly, India’s mission in Qatar experienced an exponential 11,254% rise in expenditure for legal assistance compared to last year, which could be linked to this case.

Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan in July in a written reply to Parliament gave a detailed break-up of the funds utilised from the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) by each of the 119 Indian diplomatic missions and consulates around the world from 2019 till June 2023.

The data revealed that expenditure of the Indian mission in Doha on financial assistance in 2019 was Rs 1.87 lakh. After a dip to just about Rs 26,000 in the pandemic year of 2020, it bounced back to Rs 1.79 lakh the next year. Then, it increased sharply to Rs 7.4 lakh within one year in 2022. But in just six months of this year, the Indian embassy in Doha has spent a whopping Rs 8.41 crore.

Now that the Ministry of External Affairs is awaiting the detailed judgment in the case, many believe that talks may have already begun with the Qatari side. “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,” the MEA said in a statement.

A test of diplomacy

The case shrouded in mystery – charges are still to be made public – and the now death sentence for the eight veterans will be a true test for Indian diplomacy.

India, however, shares a good relationship with Qatar. Since 2008, the ties have been blossoming; in 2015, the Qatari Emir, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, visited India and in the following year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to Doha.

Moreover, in 2021, India was among the top four export destinations for Qatar, and is also among the top three sources of Qatar’s imports. The bilateral trade is valued at $15 billion, which is mostly LNG and LPG exports from Qatar worth over $13 billion.

Defence cooperation is also high among the two nations; it has been officially described as a “pillar” of Indian-Qatar ties.

It is left to be seen if India is able to secure the release of the eight naval veterans or will this matter go the Kulbhushan Jadhav way?

With inputs from agencies