Indian ambassador got consular access to meet all 8 ex-Navy men on death row in Qatar: MEA

India was allowed consular access to all the eight former Indian Navy personnel sentenced to death in Qatar on espionage charges, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed Thursday. The move comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on the sidelines of the COP28 summit.

Addressing a weekly media briefing in New Delhi, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the Indian Ambassador got consular access to meet the eight Indians in prison on 3 December.

Bagchi said India has been closely following the matter and extending all legal and consular assistance.

“There have been two hearings. We filed an appeal, from the families, and the detainees had a final appeal,” Bagchi said, speaking of the appeals held on November 23 and 30.

“Meanwhile, our ambassador got consular access to meet all 8 of them in prison on 3rd December. This is a sensitive issue, but we will continue to follow and whatever we can share, we will do so,” Bagchi added.

#WATCH | MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi says, “You would have seen Prime Minister Modi meet Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad, the Amir of Qatar in Dubai on the sidelines of CoP28. They’ve had a good conversation on the overall bilateral relationship as well as in the well-being of the… pic.twitter.com/PfcBKtKvnm

— ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2023

Seven retired naval officers and a sailor, all employees of a Doha-based private company Al Dahra Global Technologies, were taken into custody in August 2022. This year in October, they were sentenced to death by a Qatar court.

The firm they were employed in provided training and other services to Qatar’s armed forces and security agencies. They were held on unspecified charges since August last year, with reports saying they were accused of espionage.

The arrested Indians were identified as 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.

India described the ruling of the Qatar court as "deeply" shocking and vowed to explore all legal options in the case. An appeal has already been filed against the death sentence and a higher court in Qatar has admitted the plea. The appeal has been filed by the legal team of the detained Indian nationals.

Earlier, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar had met with the families of the prisoners and assured them that the government attached “the highest importance” to the case. On their part, the families have submitted a mercy plea to the Emir of Qatar.

With inputs from agencies