Page 6 - The Indian EYE 121523

NATION DECEMBER 15, 2023 | The Indian Eye 6

Life of eight Indian sailors hangs

in balance as India tries diplomatic

route with Qatar

Congress MP Manish Tewari alleges that the eight sailors have been tortured,

self-incriminating confessions extracted, and sentenced to death in a Kangaroo trial

OUR BUREAU regard.
Meanwhile, Congress Member
Doha/New Delhi
of Parliament Manish Tewari has
n a shocking judgment, eight In- given notice of his intention to ask
dians former Indian Navy person- for leave to move a motion for the
Inel who were detained in Qatar adjournment of the business of the
for over a year, were sentenced to house for the purpose of discussing a
death by Qatar’s Court of First In- definite matter of urgent importance,
stance in October, 2023. Since then, namely, the imprisonment of retired
the Indian government has been try- Indian navy personnel in Qatar.
ing to get a reprieve to the jailed sail- “That this House do suspend
ors. Zero Hour, Question Hour, and oth-
The eight Indian nationals have er Businesses of the Day to have a
been imprisoned in Qatar since Oc- discussion regarding the retired-Indi-
tober 2022 and were accused of al- an navy personnel imprisoned in Qa-
legedly spying on a submarine pro- tar. Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Cap-
gramme. The retired naval personnel tain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain
were sentenced to death by a Qatar Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Amit
court on charges that have not yet Nagpal, Commander Purnendu Ti-
been made public officially. wari, Commander Sugunakar Paka-
The Court of First Instance of la, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, and
Qatar passed the judgement against Sailor Ragesh, were sentenced by the
them, according to a statement by the Qatari court on October 26, 2023, “
Ministry of External Affairs. Qatar The eight former Indian Navy officers have been imprisoned in Qatar since October 2022 and read the letter from the Congress MP.
has also yet to provide details of the were accused of allegedly spying on a submarine programme (File/Representative photo) In a letter to the Secretary-Gen-
charges against the former Naval of- eral of Lok Sabha, Tewari stated
ficers, nor has the order of the Court and the detainees had a final appeal. tar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad and that the eight retired navy personnel
of First instance been shared with the Two hearings have since been held. said that they have had a good con- were sentenced to death by the Qa-
families of the former Naval officers. One was on November 30th and the versation on the overall bilateral re- tari court on October 26, 2023. He
But now New Delhi had been other was on November 23rd. I think lationship. further stated that he has been con-
granted consular access to the eight the next hearing is coming up soon,” “You would have seen Prime stantly raising this matter since Au-
Indians and had been working to se- Bagchi said. Minister Narendra Modi meet the gust 2022 both inside and outside the
cure their release. The Indian nation- Sharing the update on the case Emir of Qatar in Dubai on the side- House but the response of the Gov-
als had their first trial in late March. further, the MEA spokesperson said lines of COP28 ...I think he put out ernment has been - NO RESPONSE
The Ministry of External Affairs on that it is a sensitive issue and India is a tweet. My understanding is that we for -14 months.
Thursday said that India’s Ambassa- extending all legal and consular assis- have had a good conversation on the Tewari also alleged that the eight
dor in Qatar had consular access on tance. “We are closely following the overall bilateral relationship as well navy personnel have been brutally
December 3 to meet all eight ex-Na- matter and extending all legal and as the well-being of the Indian com- tortured, self-incriminating confes-
vy personnel in prison who were sen- consular assistance. Meanwhile, our munity,” Bagchi said further. sions extracted, and sentenced to
tenced to death in Qatar and two ambassador got consular access to On October 30, External Affairs death in a Kangaroo Trail in a couple
hearings have been held on their ap- meet all eight in prison on Decem- Minister S Jaishankar met with the of perfunctory hearings. He further
peal. In a weekly media briefing on ber 3. And, as I said, this is a sensitive families of eight Indians detained in stated that the Government has not
Thursday, the official spokesperson issue, but we will continue to follow Qatar and assured them that the gov- even called in the Qatari Ambassador
of the Ministry of External Affairs, and whatever we can share, we will do ernment would make all efforts to se- to protest the matter strongly.
Arindam Bagchi, said that since the so,” he added. cure their release. Tewari urged the government
detainees filed an appeal, two hear- The MEA spokesperson also The EAM said that the govern- to inform the House of the situation
ings have already been held. highlighted the recent meeting that ment attaches the “highest impor- about the navy personnel in Qatar
“There have been two hearings. took place between Prime Minister tance” to the case and will coordi- and the steps taken to bring them
We filed an appeal, with the families, Narendra Modi and the Emir of Qa- nate closely with the families in that back to India.

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