Embaixadores Ashok Sajjanhar, Suresh K Goel e Robinder Sachdev
Nova Delhi: After a Qatar court commuted the death sentence of eight Indian ex-Navy personnel, foreign affairs expert Robinder Sachdev hailed India’s diplomacy and said that the new verdict by the Qatari court is a big relief for the arrested personnel and their families.
“No doubt, you see diplomacy has also worked. It shows Prime Minister Modi met the mayor of Qatar on the sidelines of the CoP28 which was being held in Dubai recently. So this would have been certainly brought up by the PM with the mayor of Qatar,” he said.
He added, “The judgment by the Qatari court is indeed a huge, huge relief for the families in India. At the same time, there is still some distance ahead because what has happened, is whether the court has commuted or instead of the death sentence has handed some other judgment, which we do at least. As of now, the question will be what is the judgment that the court has now announced?.”
He said further, “Yes, we understand that the death sentence is no longer in the picture, which is a huge relief. But what else is, because the point is that if the court has kind of judged this as a different category of an episode, then is it a five-year sentence, a ten-year sentence, a 20-year sentence? How long would that sentence be? That is one. But the hope we have is that whatever the sentence in the coming days and months, that sentence could perhaps also be reduced so that we have these sailors back home as soon as possible.”
Additionally, Former diplomat Suresh K Goel also appreciated the Indian government’s efforts which resulted in commuting the sentence of Indian naval officers and hoped that if government could ensure their transfer to India in the coming days.
He stated, “After the efforts by the govt, their death sentence has been commuted, hope that in the coming days, with more efforts the sentence reduces further or if they can be transferred to India so that they can serve their rest of the sentence here…efforts will continue.”
Moreover, Former Diplomat, Ashok Sajjanhar said that the commuted sentence is a “welcome development” and added that this is not the end but a need to ensure that all officers would be brought back home safely.
He noted, ” It is a very welcome development, the whole country was really on an edge…the govt and all those who were involved with it were working very hard to ensure that this sentence is not carried out. This is the first positive development…but of course, this is not the end…we need to ensure that all these officers are brought back home safely with full dignity and all the charges against them are removed.”
O Tribunal do Catar comutou na quinta-feira a pena de morte de oito ex-oficiais da marinha indianos que prendeu no ano passado no caso Dahra Global, disse o Ministério das Relações Exteriores em comunicado à imprensa. A pena foi agora reduzida para penas de prisão.
Describing the judgement, the Ministry of External Affairs said, “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.”
O MEA disse ainda que aguarda-se o julgamento detalhado do caso e está em contato próximo com a equipe jurídica do Catar.
A MEA acrescentou: “Aguarda-se o julgamento detalhado. Estamos em contato próximo com a equipe jurídica e também com os familiares para decidir os próximos passos. O nosso Embaixador no Qatar e outros funcionários estiveram hoje presentes no Tribunal de Recurso, juntamente com os seus familiares. Apoiámo-los desde o início do assunto e continuaremos a prestar toda a assistência consular e jurídica. Também continuaremos a abordar o assunto com as autoridades do Catar.”
Os oito cidadãos indianos estão presos no Catar desde outubro de 2022 e foram acusados ​​de supostamente espionar um programa de submarinos. O pessoal naval reformado foi condenado à morte por um tribunal do Qatar por acusações que ainda não foram tornadas públicas oficialmente.
No início deste mês, o MEA informou que foram realizadas duas audiências sobre o caso.
“Houve duas audiências. Entramos com recurso, junto às famílias, e os detentos tiveram recurso final. Desde então, duas audiências foram realizadas. Um foi no dia 30 de novembro e o outro no dia 23 de novembro. Acho que a próxima audiência acontecerá em breve”, disse Bagchi.
Além disso, o Tribunal de Primeira Instância do Qatar proferiu a sentença contra eles, de acordo com uma declaração do Ministério das Relações Exteriores.
O porta-voz do MEA destacou também a recente reunião que teve lugar entre o Primeiro-Ministro Narendra Modi e o Emir do Qatar, Xeque Tamim Bin Hamad e disse que tiveram uma boa conversa sobre a relação bilateral geral.
O primeiro-ministro Narendra Modi encontrou-se com o emir do Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, à margem da cimeira COP28 no Dubai e discutiu a parceria bilateral e o “bem-estar da comunidade indiana” que vive no Qatar.