Qatar court accepts New Delhi's appeal against death penalty to 8 Indian men
Eight Indian nationals have been awarded death penalty in Qatar
A Qatar court on Thursday (Nov 23) accepted India's appeals against the death penalty to eight nationals who have been detained in Doha for over a year. The Qatari court will set a hearing date to re-examine the death penalty awarded to the Indian nationals, based on the appeal, according to an NDTVreport, citing sources
The eight men were arrested in August last year byQatar’s intelligence agency, based on spying allegations.They were all employees of the private firm Al Dahra and had their first trial in late March.
After the arrest, the eight men filed several bail petitions but all were rejected before the ultimate verdict was pronounced by theCourt of First Instance in Qatar last month.
After the verdict, the IndianMinistry of External Affairs (MEA) released a statement saying it was shocked by the penalty handed to the men.
"We have initial information that the Court of First Instance of Qatar has today passed a judgement in the case involving eight Indian employees of Al Dahra company," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
"We are deeply shocked by the verdict of the death penalty and are awaiting the detailed judgement. We are in touch with the family members and the legal team, and we are exploring all legal options," it added.
MEA working on the release
Earlier reports claimed thatQatari authorities had neither provided any reasonfor their arrest, nor any details of the case, including the alleged crime committed by these men.
However, on Thursday, MEA in a fresh statement said:“The judgment is confidential. There is a court of first instance that gave the judgment, which was shared with our legal team. Considering all legal options, an appeal has been filed. We are in touch with the Qatari authorities.”
Watch |India files appeal against death penalty to 8 former Navy personnel in Qatar
India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has assured that the government is giving utmost importance to the case and that the release of the eight men will be the goal.
“The government attaches the highest importance to the case. [I] fully share the concerns and pain of the families, underlined that Government will continue to make all efforts to secure their release,” said Jaishankar.
The Indian embassy in Doha has been making arrangments so that the families of the arrested men can meet them. All of the eight have been in solitary confinement for the major part of their prison sentence.
(With inputs from agencies)