Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Nearly three weeks after India’s appointed legal team filed an appeal against the death penalty for the eight Indian naval veterans, Qatar’s court of first instance has accepted it.
“The wives of two naval veterans were present in court when an announcement was made in Arabic at 10 am on Thursday. It took sometime for it to be known that the appeal has been accepted and will be considered by the court. The next hearing is slated to be within one week,” said a source.
It may be recalled that on October 26, the Qatari court had announced the death penalty for these eight naval veterans who have been imprisoned since August 30, 2022. Of the six charges made against them, three were dropped while three were admitted when the judgement was made.
“Family members of these veterans met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for the second time in a month a day before Diwali. The Indian government is doing all it can to repatriate these men,” the source added.
“We are deeply shocked by the verdict of the death penalty and are in touch with the family members and our legal team is exploring all legal options,” the Ministry of External Affairs had said after the judgement on October 26.
Details of the judgement have not yet been made public and Qatar hasn’t issued any statement on it. There was talk of families being made to sign an indemnity bond in order to know the details. Some families had reservations on signing the bond.
Meanwhile, there is talk of back channel talks involving other countries to help in the repatriation of the eight naval veterans. The US and Turkey are amongst the countries that have been approached regarding this issue, according to a source.
“The US could get Qatar and Egypt to mediate for release of hostages and a humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict on Wednesday. This has raised our hopes for a similar mediation for our eight naval veterans,” said a source. Follow channel on WhatsApp
NEW DELHI: Nearly three weeks after India’s appointed legal team filed an appeal against the death penalty for the eight Indian naval veterans, Qatar’s court of first instance has accepted it.
“The wives of two naval veterans were present in court when an announcement was made in Arabic at 10 am on Thursday. It took sometime for it to be known that the appeal has been accepted and will be considered by the court. The next hearing is slated to be within one week,” said a source.
It may be recalled that on October 26, the Qatari court had announced the death penalty for these eight naval veterans who have been imprisoned since August 30, 2022. Of the six charges made against them, three were dropped while three were admitted when the judgement was made.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
“Family members of these veterans met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for the second time in a month a day before Diwali. The Indian government is doing all it can to repatriate these men,” the source added.
“We are deeply shocked by the verdict of the death penalty and are in touch with the family members and our legal team is exploring all legal options,” the Ministry of External Affairs had said after the judgement on October 26.
Details of the judgement have not yet been made public and Qatar hasn’t issued any statement on it. There was talk of families being made to sign an indemnity bond in order to know the details. Some families had reservations on signing the bond.
Meanwhile, there is talk of back channel talks involving other countries to help in the repatriation of the eight naval veterans. The US and Turkey are amongst the countries that have been approached regarding this issue, according to a source.
“The US could get Qatar and Egypt to mediate for release of hostages and a humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict on Wednesday. This has raised our hopes for a similar mediation for our eight naval veterans,” said a source. Follow channel on WhatsApp
