The Central Government is putting
all-out efforts to bring back eight former naval personnel from Qatar, who were
handed death sentences by a Qatari court, said Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar
on Friday.
“We are working closely to ensure that
their interests are looked after,” stated Admiral Kumar at a media briefing.
“The Indian Government is putting
all-out efforts to ensure they are brought back,” he said.
The Indian nationals were on October 26
given death sentence by Qatar’s Court of First Instance. India described the
ruling as “deeply” shocking and vowed to explore all legal options in the case.
An appeal has already been filed against
the death sentence and a higher court in Qatar has already admitted the plea.
The appeal has been filed by the legal
team of the detained Indian nationals.
The Indian nationals, who worked with
private company Al Dahra, were arrested in August last year reportedly in an
alleged case of espionage.
Neither the Qatari authorities nor New
Delhi made the charges against the Indian nationals public.
In its reaction to the ruling by the
Qatari court, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) last month said that it is
attaching “high importance” to this case and is exploring all legal options.
The charges were filed against the eight
Indian navy veterans on March 25 and they were tried under Qatari law.
All of the former Navy officers had “unblemished
stints” of up to 20 years in the Indian Navy and had held important positions,
including that of instructors in the force, former military officials had said.
PTI
