Qatar court accepts New Delhi’s appeal against death penalty to 8 Indian men

A Qatar court on Thursday (Nov 23) accepted India’s appeals against the death penalty to eight nationals who have been detained in Doha for over a year. The Qatari court will set a hearing date to re-examine the death penalty awarded to the Indian nationals, based on the appeal, according to an NDTV report, citing sources 

The eight men were arrested in August last year by Qatar’s intelligence agency, based on spying allegations. They were all employees of the private firm Al Dahra and had their first trial in late March. 

Their bail petitions were rejected several times and the verdict against them was pronounced last month by the Court of First Instance in Qatar.

After the verdict, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) released a statement saying it was shocked by the penalty handed to the men. 

“We have initial information that the Court of First Instance of Qatar has today passed a judgement in the case involving eight Indian employees of Al Dahra company,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

“We are deeply shocked by the verdict of the death penalty and are awaiting the detailed judgement. We are in touch with the family members and the legal team, and we are exploring all legal options,” it added.

Earlier reports claimed that Qatari authorities had neither provided any reason for their arrest, nor any details of the case, including the alleged crime committed by these men.

However, on Thursday, MEA in a fresh statement said: “The judgment is confidential. There is a court of first instance that gave the judgment, which was shared with our legal team. Considering all legal options, an appeal has been filed. We are in touch with the Qatari authorities.”

(More to follow)