Qatar court sentence death penalty to 8 former Indian Navy personnel

Eight former Indian Navy personnel were sentenced to death by a Qatari court on 26 October 2023. India has expressed surprise at this decision of the Qatari court and has decided to explore all legal options in the matter.

External Affairs Ministry's response:

• In its reaction to the Qatari court's decision, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it was attaching "high importance" to the matter and exploring all legal options.

Background of the news:

• These eight Indian nationals, working with a Qatar-based private company 'Dahra Global Technologies and Consulting Services' (Al Dahra), were arrested in August last year in an alleged espionage case.
• During that time, neither Qatari authorities nor New Delhi had made public the allegations against Indian citizens.
• These eight former officers of the Indian Navy were working in Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services. Which is a defense services provider company owned by Royal Omani, an Omani citizen.

What are the allegations against them?

• Former Indian Navy personnel have been accused of spying for Israel, due to which the Qatar court has found them guilty and sentenced them to death.
• According to Al Jazeera's report, these eight former officers of the Indian Navy are accused of spying on the submarine program for Israel.
• They are accused of giving data related to Qatar's submarine projects to Israel.
• All of them worked for Al Dahra, which was advising on projects in Qatar. The objective of which was to obtain a high-tech Italian-made submarine that could avoid radar.
• Qatar was working on a major project involving the construction of a naval base and the maintenance of its military fleet.
• A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in 2020 with Italian shipbuilding firm Fincantieri SPA to build submarines as part of the same project. This MoU could not be implemented due to some reason.
• There was to be an agreement between Qatar and Italy regarding submarines, for which these eight Indians have been accused of spying.

The eight Indians who have been accused:

• Captain Navtej Singh Gill,
• Captain Saurabh Vashishtha,
• Commander Purnendu Tiwari,
• Captain Birendra Kumar Verma,
• Commander Sugunakar Pakala,
• Commander Sanjeev Gupta,
• Commander Amit Nagpal and
• Sailor Ragesh.

A unique record in the name of Commander Sugunakar Pakala:

• Commander Sugunakar Pakala, one of these eight former Indian Navy personnel, has set a record of crossing the equator twice on a single naval ship in a career spanning 25 years.