Qatar frees eight Navy veterans jailed on 'espionage' charges; Seven return to India, praise PM Modi

In a significant diplomatic victory for India, Doha freed eight Indian Navy veterans convicted to death in Qatar on Monday.

Following diplomatic intervention by New Delhi, the death penalty was previously modified to a prolonged jail sentence.

In response to frantic pleadings from the Navy veterans’ family for their release and safe passage back to their homeland, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) promised to deploy all diplomatic channels and offer legal help to bring them back.

In an official statement on Monday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated that seven of the eight former Navy officers had already returned to India.

#WATCH | Delhi: Qatar released the eight Indian ex-Navy veterans who were in its custody; seven of them have returned to India. pic.twitter.com/yuYVx5N8zR

— ANI (@ANI) February 12, 2024

Setting foot in their nation after many excruciating months of detention in Qatar, the seven Indian naval veterans showered appreciation on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming they would not have been liberated if he had not made relentless diplomatic efforts to obtain their release.

Upon landing at the Delhi airport early on Monday, the seven ex-Navy officers began chanting "Bharat Mata ki Jai."

The Union government released an official statement welcoming the decision to set the veteran officers free, saying, "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."

The eight Indian nationals were detained in October 2022 and held in a jail in Qatar on charges that they were spying on a submarine development. A Qatari court condemned the former navy officers to death on allegations that have not yet been formally made public.

Earlier, the newly appointed spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, Jaiswal, emphasised the temporal significance of this period, stating, "As far as the issue is concerned, there is a time of 60 days when this issue can be appealed in the Court of Cassation, which is the highest court in Qatar."

The MEA's legal team possesses the confidential court order detailing the commutation of the death sentences to imprisonment terms, a move revealed in a press release following the court of appeal's judgement on December 28.

"We issued a press release in which we informed you that the death sentence, which was originally a death penalty, has been changed to imprisonment sentences. Now our legal team has that court order, and I can confirm that all of them have received sentences of different durations, and the death penalty has been abolished," Jaiswal said.

Furthermore, the Qatari Court of First Instance ruled against them, according to a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs.

The MEA spokesman also emphasised the recent meeting that transpired between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad, the Emir of Qatar, stating that they had a positive discussion on the bilateral relationship in general.

Speaking to ANI, a Navy veteran praised Prime Minister Modi for discussing their sentence with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar and credited him for their release via persistent diplomatic efforts.

"I feel relieved and delighted to finally be back home safe and sound. I wish to thank Prime Minister Modi as this wouldn't have been possible had it not been for his personal intervention to secure our release. I also wish to express my gratitude to Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of the State of Qatar," he said.

Wearing a relieving smile and a calm demeanour, another released former naval officer told ANI, "Without the intervention of PM Modi, we would not have walked free. We wouldn't be standing before you today had it not been for his untiring efforts and interventions at the highest levels to get us freedom."

Another freed navy veteran also came out in praise of the Centre's intervention in securing their release, saying, "We, as well as our anxious family members back home, had been waiting for this day for a long time. It all worked out because of PM Modi and his personal intervention in the matter. He took up our case with the highest levels of the Qatari government and eventually secured our release. I don't have enough words to express my gratitude to him and the Emir of Qatar."

"We are very happy to be back and it wouldn't have been possible had the honourable Prime Minister not taken personal interest in the matter. I also thank the Qatar Emir for his personal involvement in the matter," another former Navy officer told ANI.

"We waited almost 18 months to be back home to our loved ones in India. We are extremely grateful to PM Modi for getting us back. We wouldn't have seen this day without the joint efforts of PM Modi and the Emir of Qatar. The personal equations that the two leaders share also helped in our release," another Navy veteran told ANI after landing in Delhi.