New Delhi's Foreign Ministry said on Monday that a Qatari court has ordered the release of eight Indian naval officers who were previously on death row for unspecified charges.
Authorities said in January that the men's death penalty had been converted into prison sentences of "varying" lengths. This comes as seven of the eight individuals have already returned home to India, as confirmed by the Foreign Ministry.
Qatar Releases Indian Naval Officers
Neither India nor Qatar revealed what charges were filed against the naval officers who were working for Dahra Global, which is a private firm in Qatar. However, previous reports claimed that the individuals were charged with spying for Israel.
In a statement, New Delhi's Foreign Ministry said that they appreciated the decision by the Amir of the State of Qatar to enable the release of the eight Indian nationals. The arrest of the naval officers made headlines in the South Asian country in 2022, as per BBC.
In October last year, India said that it was "deeply shocked" after the Court of First Instance in Qatar sentenced the men to death. The Indian Foreign Ministry subsequently filed an appeal against the sentence handed to the naval officers.
The situation comes as India and Qatar are considered to be close allies and comes as New Delhi recently signed a $78 billion deal to import liquefied natural gas from Doha until the end of 2048.
The conviction of the Indian naval officers briefly disturbed ties between the two nations but experts argued that sustained diplomatic efforts led to the release of the eight men. India's Foreign Ministry said in December last year that its ambassador to Qatar had met the eight men in prison.
The remaining naval officer who has not yet returned home is said to be working through some paperwork and will be released soon. The seven who were able to come back were identified as Capts. Navtej Singh Gill, Saurabj Vasisht, Birendra Kumar Verma, Commanders Purnendu Tiwari, Sugunakar Pakala, Sanjeev Gupta, Amit Nagpal, and Sailor Ragesh, according to NDTV.
Communal of Death Sentence
The commune of the eight men's death sentences was made shortly after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Qatar's Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the COP28 summit that was held in Dubai.
After one of the eight naval officers returned home to India, he thanked the prime minister, saying that they were very happy to be back home safely. He also said, "Definitely, we would like to thank PM Modi as this was only possible because of his personal intervention."
Another one of the seven men who returned home said that they waited for 18 months to return to India. He said that they are "extremely grateful to the Prime Minister." He also expressed gratitude to the Indian government for all the efforts that were made to secure their release.
A general secretary of India's main opposition party, Jairam Ramesh, demanded last year that the local government "explain to the families and the people of India" why it has not yet secured the release of the naval officers more than half a year after their detention, said CNN.
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