Relief as Qatar takes 8 Indians off death row

A Qatari court on Thursday commuted the death sentence given to eight former Indian Navy personnel earlier this year and sentenced them to prison for varying durations ranging from three years to 25 years, people familiar with the matter said.

- Rezaul H Laskar

The ruling by Qatar’s Court of Appeal came during the hearing of an appeal by the families of the eight men, who were detained in August 2022 on undeclared charges. Reports have suggested they were accused of espionage, though Qatari and Indian authorities haven’t provided details of the charges against them.

The external affairs ministry said in a brief statement that Qatar’s Court of Appeal had “reduced” the sentences given to the eight men — Captains Navtej Gill and Saurabh Vasisht, Commanders Purnendu Tiwari, Amit Nagpal, SK Gupta, BK Verma and Sugunakar Pakala, and sailor Ragesh — but provided no details. “The detailed judgment is awaited,” the statement said.

The people cited above said the Qatari court had commuted the death sentence of all eight men and given them prison terms of varying duration. “The death sentence is off the table. The prison terms vary from a few years to several years,” one of the people said on condition of anonymity.

A second person said the prison terms range from three years to 10, 15 and 25 years.