Eight ex-Navy personnel sentenced to demise by a Qatar courtroom in October – over espionage allegations – will face commuted punishments, the Indian authorities stated this afternoon. Details in regards to the diminished phrases – most definitely heavy jail time – are unclear because the judgement has not but been launched.

The Indian authorities, nevertheless, has stated it’s in “close touch with the legal team, as well as family members, to decide on the next steps”. “We have stood by them since the beginning of the matter and we will continue to extend all consular and legal assistance. We will also continue to take up the matter with the Qatari authorities,” the federal government stated in a press release issued from New Delhi.

Commuting of the demise sentence comes weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the Qatari ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, on the side-lines of CoP28 summit in Dubai. Details of their dialog had been by no means made public, however there was hypothesis the sailors’ destiny was raised.

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The arrested naval personnel are Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Amit Nagpal, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Saurabh Vasisht and Sailor Ragesh Gopakumar.

Several of them are highly-decorated army personnel who as soon as commanded Indian warships, and had been working for a non-public agency offering coaching and associated providers to Qatar’s armed forces.

Families of the eight spoke to NDTV and flatly denied the spying allegations.

READ | “Went To Build Qatar’s Security”: Families Of Indian Sailors On Death Row

They had been “not engaged in espionage for Israel”, the households stated. “They went to build the Qatari Navy and build that nation’s security. They could never spy. There are no proof of allegations…”

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