NEW DELHI: The appeal filed against the death penalty judgement of the 8 naval veterans, imprisoned in Doha since August 30th, 2022, will come up for hearing on November 23rd.
It may be recalled that Qatar’s Court of First Instance had passed a judgement on October 26th awarding the death penalty to 8 naval veterans who were former employees of Al Dhara. The Indian government had expressed deep shock at the judgement.
"We are deeply shocked by the verdict of the death penalty and are in touch with the family members and our legal team is exploring all legal options,’’ the Ministry of External Affairs had said after the judgement.
Meanwhile, family members of the eight naval veterans had a second meeting with External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar earlier this month. This is the second interaction that the families have had with Dr S Jaishankar in the past month.
"The families are hoping against hope that the appeal will be considered. There will be two more appeals filed in this court if this appeal isn’t accepted,’’ according to a source.
Details of the judgement have not yet been made public and Qatar hasn’t issued any statement on the same. There was talk of families being made to sign an indemnity bond in order to know the details of the judgment. Some families had reservations about the signing of the bond.
Meanwhile, there is talk of back-channel talks involving other countries to help in the repatriation of these eight naval veterans. The US and Turkey are amongst the countries that have been approached regarding this issue, according to a source.
"The US could get Qatar and Egypt mediate for release of hostages and a humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict on Wednesday and this has raised our hope for a similar mediation for our eight naval veterans,’’ said a source.