A Qatar court on Thursday reduced the death sentence handed over to eight former Indian Navy personnel in October on charges of espionage.

“We have noted the verdict today of the Court of Appeal of Qatar in the Dahra Global case, in which the sentences have been reduced,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

The MEA, however, did not elaborate on the verdict and merely stated that “the detailed judgment is awaited..” The Ministry also informed that Indian ambassador to Qatar and other officials were present in the Court of Appeal on Thursday along with the family members.

“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,” read the MEA statement.

The Navy veterans - Purnendu Tiwari, Sugunakar Pakala, Amit Nagpal and Sanjeev Gupta, all former Commanders and Navtej Singh Gill, Birendra Kumar Verma and Saurabh Vasisht, all former Captains, and ex-sailor Ragesh Gopakumar - were working for a Doha-based consulting company, Al Dahra. They were involved in training the Qatari Navy and advising them on the acquisition of submarines.

Last month, India moved the Court of Appeal in Qatar seeking a review of the death sentence of the eight former Indian Navy employees, some of whom were highly decorated during the service. Throughout the court proceedings, the Qatar government has been silent on the charges made against the veterans. According to international news reports, Qatar did not respond to queries on the court verdict. Even the Indian government and families of veterans have refrained from coming out with details of the case since they were taken into custody by authorities in August 2022.

The dropping of charges against the veterans comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai earlier this month.

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