Qatar commutes death sentence for eight Indian ex-naval officers

A Qatar court has dropped the death penalty for eight Indian ex-naval officers arrested in the Arab country last year, the Indian government said on Thursday.

“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,” said India’s foreign ministry, adding that details of the judgement were awaited.

It added that the government was in “close touch” with the legal team as well as the family members of the eight people arrested in August last year.

The reduced sentence comes as a big diplomatic victory for New Delhi after officials filed an appeal in November against capital punishment.

The eight men were sentenced to death by a court on unspecified charges on 26 October.

The Indian ambassador to Qatar and other officials were present in court along with the families of the eight arrested during the hearing. The foreign ministry said, “due to the confidential and sensitive nature of proceedings of this case, it would not be appropriate to make any further comment at this juncture”.

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