Vizag: Pressure on Centre to bring back 8 navy veterans sentenced to death in Qatar

Visakhapatnam: Pressure is mounting on the central government to bring back eight navy veterans who have been sentenced to death by a court in Qatar.

Eight former Indian Navy officers were arrested on August 30, 2022, and sentenced to death on Thursday by the Court of First Instance of Qatar.

C Kalyan Chakravarthy, brother-in-law of Sugunakar Pakala, one of the eight veterans, appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Minister External Affairs (MEA) S Jaishankar to secure the release of the veterans.

"All of these men are above 50 years old and they went to Doha to earn their livelihood. Why would they spy and for what benefit? So, I request the Indian Government to get my jijaji (Pakala) and other men to India," Chakravarthy said, talking to reporters at Vizag Press Club.

He said it has already been 14 months since the former naval officers were incarcerated in the West Asian country and demanded to know how long it would take to repatriate them.

According to Chakravarthy, Qatari authorities picked up the eight persons in the middle of the night over unsubstantiated charges, suspecting their friendly conversations and phone calls and exchanges between military attaches from India.

He alleged that enemy nations of both India and Qatar were behind this.

Chakravarthy said that the MEA spokesperson kept saying that neither was the ministry informed of any charges against these men nor did Qatar present any evidence of their alleged espionage.

He said the reports that the eight navy veterans were spying for Israel were completely false and baseless.

He questioned why the families of the veterans are being kept in the dark and where the case is heading next. He demanded quick and harsh measures from India.

Chakravarthy said on December 8, 2022, Jaishankar told Parliament that these eight men would be repatriated. "What confidence and faith will the government instill in serving service members and veterans if it fails to repatriate them?" he asked.

India to approach court

Meanwhile, India is learnt to be exploring various options including approaching the court of appeal against the verdict, people familiar with the matter said on Friday. They said various options are being looked at to find a solution to the issue.

It is learnt that India is yet to get a copy of the judgement by Qatar's Court of First Instance. There is no comment by Qatar on the court verdict.

The people familiar with the matter said New Delhi is likely to firm up its options after thoroughly examining the verdict. They said India may also look at resolution of the matter diplomatically or politically. The Qatari Emir pardons a number of prisoners every year based on appeals for clemency.

There is also the option of New Delhi pitching for using an India-Qatar agreement on the transfer of sentenced prisoners, said one of the people cited above. The 2015 pact provides for the completion of sentences by each other's prisoners in their home country. India described the ruling as "deeply" shocking and vowed to explore all legal options in the case.