NEW DELHI: The legal team of the eight former Indian Navy personnel, who have been sentenced to death by a Qatari court last month, has filed an appeal against the verdict, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the Indian embassy in Doha received another consular access to the detained Indians on Tuesday and that New Delhi will continue to extend legal and consular support to them.
The eight former Indian Navy personnel were given death sentence by Qatar’s Court of First Instance on October 26. India described the ruling as “deeply” shocking and vowed to explore all legal options in the case. “As we have informed earlier, the Court of First Instance of Qatar passed a judgement on October 26 in the case involving eight Indian employees of Al Dahra company,” Bagchi said.
“The judgement is confidential and has only been shared with the legal team. They are now pursuing further legal steps, and an appeal has been filed. We will also remain engaged with the Qatari authorities on this matter,” he said.
“On November 7, our embassy received another consular access to the detainees. We are in touch with the family members too, and the external affairs minister met them earlier this month in New Delhi,” Bagchi said, urging people not to engage in speculation given the sensitive nature of the case.