Qatar Court accepts India’s appeal against death penalty to former Indian navy personnel 

NEW DELHI: A Qatar court has accepted India's appeal against the death penalty to eight former Indian navy personnel, accused of espionage. The authorities informed that the date of hearing will be fixed after examining the plea.

Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Amit Nagpal, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Saurabh Vasisht and sailor Ragesh Gopakumar Ragesh are the former navy officers arrested in August 2022. All of them had served in the Indian Navy for over 20 years and had held important posts including that of instructors in the force.

They were arrested for espionage by the Qatar’s intelligence agency. However, the Qatar authorities have not yet disclosed the charges against them. Their bail pleas were rejected several times. After being imprisoned for a year, the Qatar First Instance Court sentenced the eight to death on October 26.