How Indian Navy veterans, their families learnt about release from Qatar jail

In a huge relief and a matter of quiet celebration for all Indians, Qatar has released eight jailed former Indian Navy personnel nearly three-and-a-half months after they were handed down death sentences in a case of suspected espionage.The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on Monday that seven of them have returned to India and that India appreciates the decision by the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar to enable the release and home-coming of the Indians.Now that they are free, the eight men can live freely in India with their families.Here’s how the family was informed about the release of the Navy personnel.Indian government delivers the good newsA family member of one of the eight ex-Navy men told Indian Express that the Indian government only notified them of their release and their return after they had boarded their flights late on Sunday night.“Our veterans are back. We are immensely grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his personal intervention, and also to the Emir of Qatar for agreeing to their release. We were told about their release and journey back home once they had boarded their flights late last night,” the family member told the newspaper.Family members were not aware how the authorities managed their kins' release. “We don’t know the details of how this was made possible, just that the Emir has agreed to their release,” another family member told the outlet.Navy veterans releasedThe Indian nationals, all employees of the Doha-based company Dahra Global, were identified as Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Amit Nagpal, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, and Sailor Ragesh.Reacting to their release, the MEA said in a statement, “The Government of India welcomes the release of eight Indian nationals working for Dahra Global company who were detained in Qatar. Seven out of the eight of them have returned to India. We appreciate the decision by the Amir of the State of Qatar to enable the release and homecoming of these nationals.”Of the eight, only Commander Purnendu Tiwari has not returned yet. The lone veteran is completing some paperwork and should be back soon, according to NDTV.No clue of their imminent releaseAccording to NDTV, which cited its sources, the seven Navy veterans were apparently unaware that they would soon be released.The sources claim that yesterday night, jailors asked the veterans to pack their belongings and wait until approximately 9 am (local time).After that, they were whisked off to the Embassy and then to the airport. They boarded an IndiGo flight that arrived in Delhi at two in the morning.The case against them in QatarThe eight Navy personnel were arrested in August 2022. They were accused of spying for Israel, though the allegations against them have not yet been made public by Qatari authorities, according to Indian Express.The maximum sentence of 25 years was meted out to Commander Tiwari, a senior officer at Dahra Global.Out of the eight individuals, four received sentences of 15 years in prison; two of them faced 10 years; and Ragesh, the only sailor, was handed the lightest punishment of three years.

Amid desperate pleas by the anxious kin of the Navy veterans to secure their release and safe passage back to their homeland, the MEA had assured that it would mobilise all diplomatic channels and arrange legal assistance to bring them back.The Qatari appellate court modified their death sentence in December last year to a term of imprisonment ranging from three to 25 years.The veterans' death sentence was commuted, shortly after PM Modi met Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai. The sentence has now been reduced to jail terms.Describing the judgement, the External Affairs Ministry had 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."Following this, family members had told Indian Express that they would file an appeal in the Court of Cassation, the highest court in Qatar.Earlier in the first week of January, the MEA spokesperson told the reporters the legal team had been given 60 days to file an appeal. “The legal team has now received a copy of the court order, which is confidential in nature,” newly-appointed MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said.“Further, the legal team has been given 60 days to file an appeal in the Court of Cassation, Qatar’s highest court. Our legal team is working on this issue to decide the next course of action, and we are in touch with the families and the legal team,” he had said.Moreover, the Court of First Instance of Qatar had also passed the judgement against them, according to a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs.‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ chants heardSetting foot in their homeland after several agonising months of captivity in Kuwait, seven of the eight Indian navy veterans heaped praise on PM Modi, saying they wouldn't have been freed had it for the sustained diplomatic efforts at his behest to secure their release, according to ANI.Relieved to finally walk free, the seven former Navy officers raised chants of "Bharat Mata ki Jai" after arriving at the Delhi airport in the early hours of Monday.

Speaking to the news agency, one of the Navy veterans said, "I feel relieved and delighted to finally be back home safe and sound. I wish to thank Prime Minister Modi as this wouldn't have been possible had it not been for his personal intervention to secure our release. I also wish to express my gratitude to Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of the State of Qatar.”Another freed navy veteran also came out in praise of the Centre's intervention in securing their release, saying, "We, as well as our anxious family members back home, had been waiting for this day for a long time. It all worked out because of PM Modi and his personal intervention in the matter. He took up our case with the highest levels of the Qatari government and eventually secured our release. I don't have enough words to express my gratitude to him and the Emir of Qatar."With inputs from agencies