Qatar Emir Pardons 8 Indian Navy Veterans; 7 Return After Release

New Delhi: After 18 months of detention, the eight former Indian naval veterans, initially arrested, convicted to death, and subsequently commuted to prison in Qatar, have been released following a pardon by the Emir of Qatar. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi issued a brief statement in the early hours of Monday, February 12, expressing gratitude for the release and noting that the majority of the individuals have returned to India.

“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,” the MEA statement declared.

Although specific details of the release were not disclosed, the Indian statement suggested that the Emir of Qatar, Tamim ibn Hamad Al Thani, personally pardoned the individuals. “We appreciate the decision by the Amir of the State of Qatar to enable the release and homecoming of these nationals,” the statement added.

During the weekly media briefing on February 8, the MEA spokesperson had mentioned ongoing considerations regarding the possibility of lodging an appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision to convert the death sentences into multiple prison terms. “In Qatar situation, the situation as far as the Court of Appeal remains the same as what I had informed you earlier. There is a 60-day window within which this process of appeal has to be filed. So that is where we are. The situation has not changed. We are in touch with the family members. We are also in touch with the legal team,” the spokesperson stated four days ago.

The eight naval veterans, detained since August 2022, were initially sentenced to death by Qatar’s Court of First Instance on October 26 of the previous year. Although India expressed deep shock at the verdict, it refrained from direct criticism. Even during a conversation between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Qatar at the COP summit in Dubai in December, the explicit mention of the fate of the eight naval veterans remained undisclosed. Modi later shared on social media that they had discussed the “potential of bilateral partnership and the well-being of the Indian community in Qatar.”

Employed by the now-defunct Omani private company Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services, the veterans were tasked with providing training and related services to Qatar’s armed forces. While the specific charges were never officially disclosed, media reports suggested the possibility of espionage allegations against them. In November, the Court of Appeal accepted the Indian government’s application against the death sentences, ultimately reducing their capital punishment to varying terms of imprisonment in a judgment on December 28. The eight men are Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commodore Amit Nagpal, Commodore Purnendu Tiwari, Commodore Sugunakar Pakala, Commodore Sanjeev Gupta, and Sailor Ragesh.