Qatar releases all 8 Indian Navy veterans

Doha/New Delhi: In what is seen as a major diplomatic victory for India,  Qatar released all 8  Indian Navy veterans who were in its custody and had earlier faced death sentences.

Reacting to their release, the Government of India today welcomed the release of the Indian nationals who were working for the Dahra Global company before being detained in Qatar.

Seven out of the eight of them have returned to India, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs stated today.

“We appreciate the decision by the Amir of the State of Qatar to enable the release and home-coming of these nationals,” it added.

It may be mentioned that on October 26, 2023, the Court of First Instance of Qatar passed a judgement of the death penalty to the  8 Indian employees of Al Dahra company. The judgment was confidential and shared with the legal team only. After examining the next legal steps, India filed an appeal in Qatar’s Court of Appeal for their release. Besides, India also remained engaged with the Qatari authorities in this matter. In its verdict on December 28, 2023, the Court of Appeal of Qatar reduced the sentences in the Dahra Global case, and the death penalty was abolished, converted into varying prison sentences for the 8 Indian nationals. Thereafter, there was a 60-day period during which this matter could be appealed to the Court of Cassation, which is the highest court of Qatar, and India’s legal team worked on this issue to ensure what unfolded next.

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Before that, on the occasion of Qatar’s National Day on December 18, 2023, when Qatar’s Emir pardoned several prisoners, the eight imprisoned former naval officers had not figured in this list. 

After the detention of the Indians,  the MEA had already swung into action. It immediately got in touch with the family members and the legal team and started exploring all legal options, including extending all consular and legal assistance.

India engaged with Qatar at different levels on the issue. The MEA took up the verdict with Qatari authorities. The Indian Ambassador in Qatar and the Deputy Chief of Mission met the eight men in prison on October 1, 2023, also, once they were granted consular access. On November 7, 20023, the Indian embassy got another round of consular access, during which the Ambassador met with the 8 detainees facing the death penalty. Earlier in November, the External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar too met their family members in Delhi. On January 14, 2024 also, India got another consular access with the eight Indian naval veterans in Qatar. 

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It is worth pointing out that  India has signed Labour and Manpower Cooperation MOUs/Agreements with the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) and Jordan. These MOUs/Agreements provide the overarching framework for cooperation on Indian labour and manpower-related issues.