NEW DELHI: Qatar’s court of appeal will hear the plea of the eight Indian naval veterans sentenced to death in the country and are languishing in jail in Doha. This will be the third hearing on the appeal. Family members of most of the jailed men are already in Doha ahead of the hearing.
“The wives and children of the Navy men have been able to meet them in person. A few of the naval veterans are failing in health. That is a cause of concern. The families hope to hear the news of their repatriation. But unless it is announced, there will be apprehension too,” said an official privy to the information.
Meanwhile, wives of the eight veterans have had meetings with the Indian ambassador in Doha, who assured them of support. They have also met the defence lawyer. “These eight men were not considered for pardon on Qatar’s National Day on December 18 because their appeal was coming up on December 28. Besides, we reiterate that our naval veterans have done no wrong and hence, a pardon is not what they were seeking in the first place,” said the official.
Meanwhile, Qatar’s Ministry of Interior has just concluded a ‘Unified Gulf Inmates’ Week’ on December 24. Under the programme, a series of recreational, cultural and sports activities were organized for the inmates across the country’s prisons and detention centres.
Though there is no clarity on whether the eight naval veterans were included in this meet, there had been events organised over four days under the slogans such as “Giving them hope and opportunities”. The eight naval veterans who have been under detention since August 30, 2022, are Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Saurabh Vashisht, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Commander Amit Nagpal and Sailor Ragesh.