India on Monday announced that the eight veterans of the Indian Navy who were sentenced to death in Qatar have been released. Seven of them have returned to India, the Ministry of External Affairs said in an official statement.
The seven individuals, namely Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Commander Amit Nagpal, and Sailor Ragesh, were working for a private company -- Dahra Global company.
They were in Qatar to assist with the introduction of Italian U212 stealth submarines into the Qatari Emiri Naval Force in their personal roles.
Here is a timeline of the case:
2022
August 30: Eight men were arrested for unknown reasons and placed in solitary confinement. According to reports, they were arrested by Qatar's intelligence agency for spying.
October 1: The Indian Ambassador in Doha and Deputy Head of Mission met the navy veterans.
October 3: First Consular access was granted. CEO of Dahra Global also tried to help his officials but ended up getting arrested. He spent two months in solitary confinement and was later released on bail.
2023
March 1: The veterans' multiple bail pleas were rejected.
March 25: Charges were filed against the eight men.
March 29: The trial, following Qatari law, began.
May 30: Dahra Global closed its operations in Doha, and its former employees, mostly Indians, returned home.
August 4: The arrested men were moved from solitary confinement to a jail ward with their colleagues, with two men in each cell.
October 26: A Qatar court sentenced all eight men to death.
November 9: India said it has filed an appeal with Qatar over the death penalty to eight former Navy personnel.
November 23: The court accepted India's appeal against the death penalty.
December 28: India said that the eight ex-Navy personnel will now face commuted punishments.
2024
February 12: India announced that the eight veterans of the Indian Navy have been released.
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