NEW DELHI: An appeal has been filed by the legal team representing the eight Indian naval veterans in Qatar in their cassation court. This is the first appeal filed after the judgement was announced on December 28 in the court of appeal where the death sentence was commuted and turned into jail terms for all the naval veterans.
"The family members who were present in Doha for a few weeks, before the last appeal was heard on December 28, signed the appeal papers that have been submitted in the cassation court. Most of the family members have now returned to India. Even though the death sentence has been commuted, there are varying jail terms for each of the eight naval veterans – from three years (which has been awarded to Sailor Ragesh) up to 25 years," said a source, adding that this is despite the fact that the same charges were reportedly levelled against each of them.
So what lies ahead? According to people familiar with the matter, the appeal will be heard in the cassation court a few times before another announcement is made for the eight veterans -- repatriation is what everyone is hoping for.
The cassation court is the highest court of appeal in some judicial systems. Cassation courts do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. The term cassation is derived from the Latin word cassare which means to 'reverse or overturn'.
The eight naval veterans who have been under detention in Qatar since August 30, 2022, are Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Saurabh Vashisht, Commander Purnendu Tiwar, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Commander Amit Nagpal and Sailor Ragesh.
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