8 Former Indian Navy Personnel In Qatar Prison Can Now Hope To Serve Their Jail Term In India

A Qatar court has recently commuted the death sentence of 8 former Indian Navy Personnel serving their time in prison there. The decision came weeks after PM Narendra Modi's meeting with Qatar's Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai in the first week of December. Now, the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs said that the government will discuss the next possible steps with the legal team and the family members of the former Navy men.

MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that the interests of Indians and their family members are the foremost concern for the government. Eight Indian nationals have been imprisoned in Qatar since October 2022 and were accused of alleged spying on a submarine programme. The retired naval personnel were sentenced to death by a Qatar court on charges that have not yet been made public officially.

However, with the death sentence being reduced to prison term, India now has an opportunity to bring the jailed men back home to serve their prison sentence here. This may become possible due to a 2015 agreement signed between India and Qatar on the transfer of sentenced persons. The agreement allows citizens of India and Qatar who have been convicted and sentenced for criminal offences to serve their sentences in their home country. The agreement was signed by the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani during his visit to India in March 2015. However, the agreement does not include prisoners facing death sentences.

If this happens, the family members of the jailed ex-navy men would be relieved as they could meet them in prison and know about their well-being.